Code Blue Series: Tangible Sentiments in the Rain
by Euphoric.95
Summary: c o d e • b l u e : v o l . 1 (will include 5 chapters) volume one of my first time ever fanfiction, Code Blue "Light novel" series, which continue on from the events of season 3
1. Chapter 1

Details about the fanfiction:

As the word limit came in the way in the above summary *rolls eyes,* I decided to quickly introduce my work via this little section just before the story starts so that all of you who read could have a rough understanding of what exactly you'll be reading so if it's not suited to your tastes, you do not have to waste your time reading that bulky chapter lol

I have scrolled through many CB fanfics on here already that were to my liking (the talent is real lol) and so I'd say compared to them, mine is a little strange (lol) in that it is a fiction that is **solely written in the style of a novel**. As I've never written a short or "heavily dialogue induced" concise piece of work, and only endless literature essays for school (lmao I know), I've picked up on a writing habit which is therefore lengthy and descriptive. Plus, even though this is my first fanfic, I _have_ translated a lot of chapters of Japanese _light novels_ into English as a part of a translating group and so prefer to continue to write these plot stories just as how a light novel would be written. To me, such writing is easier to sink in given the coherent content and therefore fully enjoyable! . just my taste^^

Now onto the plot! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The "Novel series" will be a **continuation** from where the events of the **last episode from season 3** ended off. My stories will subsequently _always_ be developed and built upon from previous events hence why **the first chapter is a follow up from the events of ep 10**. The content itself is going to **follow events that were canon** because I strongly believe in preserving the authenticity of the original plot/charterers. Yes this is in fact an Aizawa/Shiriashi inspired story but is not restricted or exclusive to them as I will sometimes choose to focus a little more towards other characters as well so as to keep the original Code blue feeling and build a better story with everyone together :)

I want to stress that since I'd like my work to be truthful to the original story, the way the charterers will develop and act is going to be the exact same as how they would have in the series.

Now since, this is a fanficiton, I do plan to somewhere in my chapters, unite our A/S ! T_T I strongly believe they will end up together in an undeniable way in the future because of the solid foundation season 3 laid out for an inevitable union with the two of them based on Aizawa's little confession in ep 1, his views on marriage (how he believed it's a means for two people to share each other's pain together), and then Shiraishi's corresponding thoughts to his view of an ideal marriage in ep 7 when she wished to carry his burden together, and lastly because well ...they've been close buddies since scene 1 ep 1 season 1 Lol

My chapters will be "episodic" with different medical cases each time just as how its depicted in the Tv show.

What I **do** hope to convey in my stories, will be everything I wish would have been added or done differently throughout the show (while still remaining in the bounds of whats acceptable for code blue), to convey the _beautiful imagery_ in the episodes in the form of words as best I can, and _greatly expand on the adventure aspect_ as our flight doctors work their miracles on different sites. I am also **super excited** to do include very cool and detailed **medical cases** that are inspired by real life situations or documentaries I've seen (I'm a pre-med student lol) and integrate them with the plot of Code Blue. The characters themselves will of course go through **various developments** and situations to test their abilities and all in all you can expect these readings to be very similar to the manner of how the show would illustrate everything to you with a touch of extra descriptions or other newly inserted situations to add my own to touch because well, it is a fanfic heehee

I cannot pick a firm date as to when each chapter would be updated since I am a university student whose life is a crazy mess lol And because I want to write these as light novels, it'll take a bit more time to comprise the chapters as well as of course to edit them. All I know is that I've developed a passion to write them and will work on it whenever I can! - ps this chapter took me 2 weeks to complete.

Thank you for bearing with me..! If you _do_ decide to read through the whole chapter, I applaud you lol and would like to know of your thoughts on it if you're willing to share :)

Lets stay strong and hold out until the movie okay?! (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง

 _Enjoy!_

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コード・ブルー 第１章

 _Tangible sentiments in the Rain_

The heavy rain pattered against the large glass window that was concealed behind embroidered white curtains of Shiraishi's living room window. It was a heavy shower that started out as a light drizzle in the early evening just after sunset but had shortly turned into an intense shower as the nightfall began. Shiraishi was wrapped up cozy in her bathroom robe after managing to take that long bath she had been desiring since the subway tunnel collapsing incident that took place two days before. She was strained by the long day and then got caught in the rain shower when she tried to hurry home after getting off the bus, so a bath was a must for tonight. The reason why she took her leave early from Shohoku was because she was able to finish the last of any updates on her inpatient reports as well as any following write ups from the large scale incident of the collapsing subway tunnel. Before laying her comfy cushion on the ground and taking refuge on it, she slowly pulled the last drawer of her work desk out, grabbing a small lighter, and lit a vanilla scented candle atop the desk. Shiraishi closed her eyes listening to the loud yet also soothing pattering sound of the raindrops that bounced off her window as she waited for the candle's scent to disperse into the small living room area which was softly illuminated by the gold hue of her lamp situated beside her three seater couch. When she was satisfied by the fulfilling aroma, she gently clipped her still partially damp hair up into a tiny messy bun and planted herself cross-legged onto the huge cushion lying on the floor right after grabbing a small glittery box from the nearby shelf. Shiraishi was still accompanied by the rain sounds which caused her to momentarily gaze up at the window in a daze.

"Ah, that's right…September is coming to an end and October is right around the corner. I guess it's not strange that the weather would start to get cooler."

Shiraishi's focus then shifted back to the petite box in her hand that still glittered being reflected by the lamp's golden hue. She slowly pulled off the lid and picked out an envelope from within it. Shiraishi took a moment before sliding her hands in it to take out the contents and then smiled at the revelation.

In her fingers she held a thin pile of a few photographs. The one in front of her was one in which she saw herself from 6 years ago standing in a lecture hall lobby with a long coat and hair neatly falling down below her shoulders. She looked sophisticated, but a lot less sure of herself than she was now; her expression in the photograph seemed unsettling and she could only guess why as her eyes rolled to the other end of the photo where another person stood distant but also not too far off from her: her father. The photo was dated back to 2011, the year her father had passed away after battling stage 4 of lung cancer, and a year after he had disclosed his illness to her. They were attending one of his lectures he presented as a senior physician and his condition was deteriorating by the day. That day in particular, he was coughing and panting a lot and she remembered being in so much distress because of not being able to bear him in such a condition. Still though, he insisted on a picture as he felt it was one of his most impressive lectures he had given, and a lecture that his daughter took time out to attend to. His expression was stern with a small smile across his fatigued face and he stood straight and tall with his arms crossed behind him. His demeanour looked honourable and elegant as ever and she could not help but slide her fingers overtop his picture as tenderness filled her heart just gazing at him. His strong attitude towards his work and patients and his habit of always putting others first before himself would always remind Shiraishi of herself and how she had naturally become that way too, too much in fact that she was eventually told it was a 'bad habit,' as it often led to her pulling the burden on her own and forgetting to work others hard too.

Although it had been 6 years already, she still found it hard to swallow without a lump in her throat when she was faced with the memories of her dear father who until the end, sacrificed himself to his patients and work that benefited others. From time to time, although it was like pouring salt on a cut, she still liked to pull his pictures out from where she neatly kept them hidden like a treasure, and tell her father about the day's event or complain to him if it was a hard day. She could not do such a thing when she visited her mother since her mother was a lot weaker when she was reminded of her husband, so she always pulled out his pictures alone, in minimal light where it was peace and quiet.

In a quiet voice she spoke, "I'm sorry father….I haven't been able to find time to meet you like this again, just the two of us. It has been quite hectic at Shohoku for the past 3 months. There have come new interns and I've been responsible for them on top of carrying out my usual duties as staff leader. But still….I can feel that you're always watching over me no matter what I'm doing or how busy I get. Recently, there was a serious accident that happened on site during our flight duty. It was a time that almost made me lose sight of my straight path. It…it truly was horrifying. See, one of our flight doctors and also my friend, Fujikawa sensei, almost lost his life trying to protect the patients. Though, if it wasn't for my instructions, he would have not even gone that route to provide medical care. I know I couldn't have had control over a collapsing happening but the thought of almost losing my friend, and causing my other dear friend to lose her husband because of my instructions as staff leader, makes me shudder with horror and lose composure. At that time too, I became obstructed by my emotions and could have caused another incident if I had left my duties but then he came. He always manages to bring me back down to a state of security when I'm about to fall victim to my own shortcoming. He is….so very much strong, father."

Shiraishi quietly continued to gaze at the photograph with a slight smile but yet a sad expression.

"But not anymore. I will not falter anymore and keep on causing others as well as him further trouble! I have decided to become a staff leader with a LifeSaving only I myself can create; not as the invincible Shiraishi, but as the compassionate yet slightly absent minded me who shall prove to be headstrong in time of need and have my colleagues also depend on me! That is what I've decided and promised him earlier today as well so I can't go back on my word from now on. I shall be as honourable just as you in this photograph right now father….So please continue to look after me."

Shiraishi stared at the picture for a few seconds more before bringing it up against her chest and closing her eyes as she took in what she had just resolved on. That's right, from here on out, it was the blowing of a new wind, a brand new challenge was awaiting her as a staff leader as things were about to change rapidly once her most strong colleagues would leave her from LifeSaving. She would be left to maintain the management of the interns (though they had relatively improved their performance working well without guidance…for the most part) on her own while facilitating operations in the LifeSaving department as staff leader. This was her choice. It was also her dream, so no matter how rough it seemed at the moment, she knew she had to overcome the obstacle and pave the way for her juniors so they too could give back to society as competent physicians; that's why this path wasn't hers alone either. She was adamant on her decision to take up Lifesaving as her own forte and construct its environment in perfection so that medical treatment could be provided accurately and efficiently. It would be ok, she had the interns who were learning every day and proving to be useful in their own ways and then there was still Tachibana Sensei who took care of affairs just as how a secondary staff leader would. She had reliable nurses in the room and could call back up from professionals of other departments should any need for consultations arise.

As Shiraishi fired herself up with overflowing positive thoughts about herself as an independent staff leader in the near future, she almost didn't notice her phone ringer go off in the peaceful room still filled with sweet vanilla aroma. She let out a little squeak as the loud sound startled her causing her to drop the photographs on her lap. She quickly gathered them in a mess and set them gently aside on the ground by her cushion and frantically reached over to the coffee table to grab her phone that was still persistently ringing. Plastered on the whole of the screen of her phone was _Hiyama Mihiko_.

Shiraishi took a second to let out a little sigh at the sight of the name before answering the call.

"Hello, Hiyama Sensei..?"

"Shiraaishi..!" Her voice on the other end of the call sounded as crisp and demanding as ever.

Hiyama on the other end of the call, was waiting for her ramen's water to boil as she slipped the phone between her shoulder and ear while mixing the contents of her instant noodles with both of her hands. Her smooth wavy hair had been let down from her usual loose pony tail- an indication of exhaustion overcoming her. It was currently almost 12:00am and her shift for the night at Shohoku, though currently, she was taking a break in the main office. Hiyama had also suffered extensive fatigue due to the collapsing incident that happened 2 days ago but the root of her stress was mainly stemming from the fact that she had now also become affiliated with the Perinatal Care Center a few days ago when she accepted the offer to come back to the clinic as none other than the head of the medical office. Though she was assigned to leave the Emergency Care unit of Shohoku in a 3 months time, suddenly accepting the offer as Head of office increased the amount of work she had already on her plate as a flight doctor; there were preparations needed to be done like transferring paperwork, attending meetings for the Perinatal centre, and setting up her office while at the same time committing to her last remaining shifts at Shohoku and working around the clock for them! Being this stressed out was not normally like her unless the push was hard, and that was exactly what was going on with her. Earlier in the day when she had to visit the Perinatal clinic to meet with Takeuchi Sensei, she went together with Ogata and had lunch there with him. Though it was supposed to be a carefree lunch enjoyed outside in the fresh breeze of the clinic's cafeteria patio, she could barely finish her food once her mind started getting worked up about currently having to do practically two jobs! Though she tried to boast about it instead and act like it was no big deal in front of Ogata, her nervousness was not about to go unnoticed as she paced around the patio in front of Ogata who picked up her uneasiness in a second.

The thought of going back to the work that had quickly become her dream job right after she left Shohoko 7 years ago, was very much thrilling to her, especially after the amount of years and effort she spent on doing research in gynecology and developing beneficial relationships with others in the field like her senior Takeuchi Sensei; that's why returning to such a place was like turning a new leaf in life and she was absolutely in great anticipation to start. However, at the same time, suddenly leaving Shohoku in the usual chaos that it always was in, also left an unsettling feeling in her, especially if it was her best friend Shiraishi, who was the one being left alone to shoulder the responsibility of such a chaos. For that reason, so as to not leave everything in a complete mess, Hiyama worked her best to efficiently complete the medical reports on relevant patients, train the interns whenever she could, and aid Shiraishi with any matters that dealt with her work as staff leader. And besides, Shiraishi had also been letting Hiyama stay with her for almost 4 months now (and she still needed to convince her to let her lodge for another 3 months..!) for free so that was the least she could do, carry out her duties properly as a flight doctor again for the last time! She thought if she could pick up the pace with their staff work, she could do away with some of Shiraishi's debilitating burden that'd hit as soon as staff members left.

But nonetheless Hiyama was still a human being and could only take so much stress, and doing night shifts in particular, was not something in the scope of what was very tolerable for her, especially if she was craving a hot bath. The rain which had poured down the city in a roar just 40 minutes ago, had died down a little so the office became quiet and there was only the sound of the water boiling on the small induction stove. There were papers lying around everywhere and Mac desktops sitting atop the desks with all the lights shut off-that was Hiyama's preferable atmosphere in the office during her break. But as the blinds were not shut, rays of narrow light pierced the dark staff office from outside the large hall of the ER ward; it was just enough light for Hiyama to see what she was doing.

"Ne, how long do I have to keep ringing before you finally answer Staff Leader san?" She said in a composed yet still irritated tone.

"Eh? Er, um, sorry the ringer just caught me off guard and it took a while to actually reach my phone. Ah! Are you now on your break?"

Hiyama finished preparing her light dish and threw herself down on the large couch towards the side of the office with the ramen cup in her hands and the phone still pressed against her ear and shoulder. She kicked her legs up.

"Why else would I be able to call you like this? Anyways, did you manage to reach home before getting caught in the nasty shower?"

Shiraishi situated herself on her couch comfortably and slightly smiled before replying to Hiyama.

"Well I was trying to avoid it but it started to pour as soon as I just had 5 minutes left to walk home after getting off the bus. But, it hasn't rained in awhile so I'm not complaining that much, plus it gave me a good reason to have a nice steamy bath."

"Ehh, well isn't that good for you...that's the first thing I'm planning to do too as soon as I crash at your place after work." Hiyama said, still focused on twirling her chopsticks around in the cup of ramen.

"...well, ok, but please don't leave a pool of water on the floor again with my towels scattered on the floor…."

There was quiet on the other the end of the phone except for the crunching of Hiyama's food. Before not too long Hiyama spoke up again,

"Hey can you believe this Fujikawa? He's pretty much already better now but bailed out on doing tonight's shift leaving me with Haitani and Yokota again! As if this headache of mine wasn't enough, I've also got to keep a constant watch on those two. Ah! Which reminds me, I should clean up soon from here and check back on them, they're currently attending to patients at the inpatient clinic. Last time it was night shift for Yokata she almost inserted the IV drip to the wrong patient."

Shiraishi let out a little laugh and then sighed.

"Why is this funny? You're the one who's going to become shorthanded if they don't smarten up." Hiyama remarked.

"They're learning everyday Hiyama, and if one's tired, it's a given the risk for making mistakes elevates, especially if you're a novice. I will keep training them, in the meantime though, thank you for looking after them. Ah! And for Fujikawa Sensei, I was the one who told Saejima San that it would be fine if he required a little more rest until resorting to finish up the last of his flight doctor shifts before transferring departments."

Hiyama pushed herself up from the couch and properly grabbed hold of her phone after throwing out the empty cup.

"I see. So you're still back at it, back to giving everyone some slack even though it's the time where they should be giving their most for you-I mean seeing as how the staff is decreasing from Lifesaving."

Hiyama set the phone on speaker as she set it down on the counter in front of her and fiddled with her elastic, neatly tying her hair up again.

Shiraishi paused for a second on the other end and pressed her lips together before softly speaking up again.

"Everyone _is_ currently trying to pull the weight they can. What each person can do is limited, and...each person has a certain level of tolerance for what they can do therefore I don't want to force anyone and push them beyond their limits."

"Ah, is that so... Expect no less from our gullible staff leader. Even though that's your title, don't go on thinking it makes you invincible. As you said, each person _does_ have their own limit, you included. This workplace is a team orientated facility, it cannot function otherwise Shiraishi. That's what I'm saying."

"I understand that well, but me being the staff leader, I must also abide to other roles. I need to see through the needs of my staff as well. I appreciate your concern and you guiding the interns, but I will be fine. Anyways, finish up any reports you can, I'll take up the rest tomorrow as I start early morning."

Hiyama sighed and took a hold of the phone again.

"Whatever you say...but! The reason I actually called you, you know, was to remind you to fix up something simple and delicious for me so I can come home to a fresh meal tomorrow, ok?! Ah! Thanks so much staff leader san I expect no less from you! Gotta go before Haitiani and Yokota kill someone and create more work for you so just do this tiny favour for me ok?! You're the best!"

"Eh-"

Hiyama finished her sentence with a wide smile and quickly hung up on Shiraishi before she could speak anything more than that.

"Yosh, mission accomplished~" she said under breath. She then grabbed her clipboard and stethoscope and was about to leave the staff room in a hurry when she slammed into something after opening the door swiftly.

"Ouch!" She let out an annoyed sound while pinching her nose that slammed onto a broad surface. Her clipboard fell on the ground and before she could kneel down to pick it up, someone had already grabbed it from there and was pointing it towards her.

She clicked her tongue, "Aizawa!"

The 32 year old flight doctor stood there tall in front of her in a grey oversized hooded jumper and dark jeans. His bangs were down today and face looked as exhausted as anyone who had worked overtime and was now finally off his shift. It was always like him to stay late after his shifts to most properly and adequately finish up examining his patients as well as writing up the medical reports and other documents of administration. Recently though, he had been spending more time after his shifts in the staff office working on the desktop finishing up additional reports and scheduling in his tasks for the next day and anything else he could possibly get done. Hiyama guessed that he was already done post shift reports since he had changed out of his scrubs and had his work bag strapped around his shoulder.

"That composed face of yours again, watch where you're going will you?"

"I think I'm more in the right to say that," he slowly muttered as he slid past her when she took her clipboard back.

Aizawa flickered on the lights, illuminating the whole office to which Hiyama scowled, and walked over to a grand desk with a Mac computer sitting on top it; he pulled out his laptop from the last drawer of the desk and searched for the charger in the same drawer."

"Ne, are you coming down with something? You sound awful~" she let out a little snicker as she watched him neatly place the large laptop into his bag.

"Probably."

"Ehh, I guess the incident of the collapsing tunnel _did_ have an effect on the invincible Aizawa after all," she said as her expression changed into teasing a grin.

Hiyama turned around and and was about to leave the office still half snickering at her comeback when she heard him speak again in a gruff yet still modulated voice:

"More importantly, I see you've been taking advantage of your landlord again."

She stopped on her way out immediately and swiftly spun around hugging the clipboard to her chest.

His eyes were fixed on some papers he was sorting from the desk .

"Ha?...you..!" Hiyama's eyes widened in disbelief and she chortled under her breath wagging her finger towards him while he seemed indifferent to her reaction.

"Ahhh, I see." She said in a dramatic tone, her voice cracking into an awkward laughter as she still pointed towards him.

"Not only did you just sneakily eavesdrop on us again, but you spoke up and finally admitted to it too" She huffed under her breath and then grinned widely as she tilted her head in a mocking gesture.

He shot a look up at her for a brief second and then averted eyes again after blinking a couple of times.

He had been caught by Hiyama.

"Tsk tsk," she shook her head, "and there you go acting all innocent again with that composed face."

Hiyama clicked her tongue again, and spun around to leave the office after shutting the lights off again, and claiming victory.

Aizawa took about another 10 minutes at the ER staff office to gather all his paperwork before exiting from the ward's main entrance outside towards Shohoku's parking lot.

He had completed his evening shift but had stretched into the overnight shift due to the long patient follow ups he had to report on and then it took another hour to help Haitani out with an elderly patient who'd entered the ER with an acute infection in his chest. The diagnosis wasn't very difficult, but since it was a fairly drastic treatment with the patient at high risk due to the vulnerability of his age, Aizawa thought it would be better to lend a hand to Haitani who could from the beginning learn adequately from Aizawa's fast methodology to treat the infection, and in doing so, perform the procedure himself without any guidance should another similar case arise in the future. He tried his best to guide the interns in a way which was stern to really instill the main focus of principles into the minds of the interns, but he had also learned to become perceptive of their individual learning profiles and so tried to accommodate their needs as novices. He realized that if he didn't change that about his teaching methods, although the interns still responded due to fear, they weren't as indulgent as he thought they should be to fully benefit from his teaching. That's why now, he gave the interns time to see how _they_ wanted to handle each case and then if acceptable, he let them act upon it as they desired while he watched over them. It's true such a method may come across as carefree, and he'd be responsible should the interns mess up, but he learned that it was the _only_ way to pull the interns out from their comfort zone and put them in a battlefield-like situation where they could struggled on their own and taste real leadership. In such a way, he thought they would become confident more effectively and become capable future doctors to help out in Lifesaving as it will be much needed.

Before he knew it, Aizawa stopped midway underneath the shelter of the entrance to the parking lot while pondering on his own. As soon as he became aware of his surrounding he flipped his hoodie on and reached out with one hand beyond the shelter. He turned his palm upwards and felt the slight tingling of the soft rain drops prickling his fingertips. Shortly after sunset, a heavy rain showered the city but had faded into a light drizzle by late nightfall. The drops that smoothly glided off his long slender fingers were light but nonetheless still apparent. The drizzle also cascaded off the edges of the entrance's shelter and softly dropped atop the front tips of his black leather boots. Aizawa didn't have passion for many things other than his career, nor was he someone who knew how to "let loose" and really relax but he did find a unique serenity from the essence of a rain shower ever since he was young. For some reason, it calmed him when he fell victim to endless thoughts. He didn't close his eyes, but breathed very slow and long breaths as his eyelids became heavier just gazing up at the dark sky. He inhaled the fragile scent deeply to guess its fragrance. It was clean and crisp like mountain air and not too strong. It didn't really have a striking aroma, just a tinge of sweetness that was less subtle than an herb.  
The coolness surrounded his shoulders and before long, he began to smell the fresh earthy natural scent which he enjoyed the most after a cool pouring. It was Aizawa's favourite kind of smell, something that soothed him, one of the very trivial and so usually unnoticed thing he always took care to notice. Gazing out into the sky and the scenery beyond his immediate surroundings was the best way he alleviated himself from mild distress he experienced when work got the better of him. Though it was peaceful just gazing into the far distance surrounded by nature all by himself, he realized by the coolness of the autumn rain that when there _was_ another presence in the vicinity alongside him, he often at least downcasted his distress if not forget it completely. That's right, the presence of another person's voice, of the soothing words, and the attempt to pull him back up to his usual elevated state-all of that, he only experienced with _her_ presence- just like how he did earlier in the day when the sun was setting and he'd been sitting alone until she found him. They had a peaceful conversation at the heliport whilst he gazed upon his favourite scenery. The scenery was already magnificent as it always appeared to him, but when that particular person emerged into the scenery without him even knowing, it was like giving colour to the artwork that was beautiful, but not yet alive until her presence loomed over. While the scenery provided a superficial escape for him in times of discomfort, it didn't provide a touch of security as her presence in combination with it did. Today, he somehow managed to express his gratitude towards her when he told her he felt blessed from the bottom of his heart to have met her. It didn't really take much thought, he just saw her standing there in the glazing light of the sunset and thought that it was good she was able to be there with him during his hard times, during when he needed words of solace, during that sunset. He just felt really blessed at that time and deemed it essential to convey it to her as she deserved to know, so his lips moved on their own and he let her know of what she may have not known otherwise. Those were the utmost of his feelings, his raw thoughts conveyed to her in the most concise yet straightforward manner. He recently began to take notice that he deviated more towards where that presence of hers was, so he began to take interest in it, an interest in something which made him steer in such a way. Because it was able to affect him in this way, he reasoned it was a blessing and that was why today, he finally let it slip that encountering such a presence as hers, was in fact influential to him. That's right, Shiraishi was someone who was influential- she was logical and uplifting; she was natural and down to earth, she was real, and in the strangest way, he felt protected and reassured, the very concept of a blessing.

Aizawa recovered his senses from the void of his thoughts when heavy drops of rain pinged down on his half covered bangs. He blinked a little by the cold touch and before he knew it, the rain had become heavy again falling sharply from the clouded sky.

 _Again…._ he thought to himself.

He straightened his hood and shortly after, stepped out into the sheet of the falling rain and headed towards the large parking lot.

"Ughhhh~~ Harukaaaa, my back hurts again…."

Fujikawa had nestled up underneath his covers but was having a hard time falling asleep due to the annoying rain drops that smashed against his bedroom window infinitely. He had taken today's shift off of work as Shiraishi had insisted since he was still in the healing process after getting injured from the collapsing site that happened about 3 days ago. He had felt alright again a day ago hence gathered his courage to help out at the ER room yesterday afternoon but he soon learned that was a big mistake since he was already pushing himself and now due to the exertion, the pain had worsened and he broke out into a fever. He was only trying to help Shiraishi out a little but ended up giving her more work by skipping out due to his body deteriorating again.

After a couple of minutes, Saejima peaked her head into the room.

"Ha? Did you say something just now?"

"Ah, Haruka," he said in a low voice while breathing heavily and keeping his head down on the pillow.

"I said my back is aching again and I'm breaking into a fever, can you grab some medicine along with the snack you're fixing up right now?"

She rolled her eyes and walked into the room sitting beside him. She then pulled off the covers and rested her hand against his forehead.

"See this is why I told you _not_ to act like a hotshot and get up after barely 2 days of healing. How could you have thought to work again in this condition?"

Saejima and fujikawa had both been sleeping until when Fujikawa awoke from the sound of the rain and found out after the grumbling of his stomach that he was hungry. His fidgeting disturbed Saejima who had work tomorrow, but seeing as how his stomach roared continuously, she thought there would be no peace and quiet until he actually had something to eat and so she had been out in the kitchen frying some salmon for him. She wore a long white frilly apron over her pajamas and had her hair in a messy bun.

"Just wait here ok? Don't keep calling me anymore or I'll burn your food. I'll be back with the medicine too."

As she was exiting the room he slightly got up and started waving his hand towards her gesturing her to come back.

"Oh Haruka, how cruel you are~ all a husband asks for when he's sick is the love of his wife yet you're so cold to me." He propped his head back onto the pillow when she left.

The rain still slammed against the bedroom window and he moaned covering his head with his pillow to its unforgiving sound.

Hiyama had just finished checking the vitals of a 35 year old woman who was one of the patients severely injured from the tunnel collapsing incident.

"Good~ they seem to have stabilized." She slowly said in a low voice so as not to wake the sleeping patient.

She then walked over to Yokomine who was finishing up her report.

"Alright Yokota, let's go down the cafeteria and get some hot soup, it's about your break time anyways."

The usual cheerful but now fatigue stricken girl just looked up at her confused.

"Eh? But didn't you just have ramen during your break moments ago Hiyama Sensei? I saw you bring it to the office."

Hiyama smiled sheepishly before replying, "I'll go myself if you don't feel up to it."

As Hiyama started to walk away Yokomine understood the meaning of her words in the midst of her exhausted state of mind and quickly ran up behind her. The two walked the quiet hall together before Hiyama stopped midway as her attention shifted towards the pouring rain's pattering on the large glass window.

"Ehhh, it got heavy again….we really must be heading towards a super cold winter soon."

"Ah! You're right!" Yokomine gazed out with her.

With a dull vibration from the pocket of her scrub, Hiyama's eyes shifted towards her phone as she pulled it out. On the screen was a text from Ogata.

 _Sender: Ogata_

 _How's the night shift holding up for this formidable Sensei huh? I couldn't fall asleep right away so I spent some time doing light arm exercises. Anyway, I was just gazing out at this uncalled for rain and was baffled at the intensity! To think it was so sunny out some hours ago when we had lunch! We really must be heading into a cold winter season hey?_

 _Be extra careful to not overexert yourself and then catch a cold due to the chilling weather._

 _I know if it's Sparta sensei, she can easily overcome her task, so try your best but also keep warm!_

Hiyama knitted her brows and then let out a little giggle.

"Why is he doing exercises at 1am?" She mumbled to herself still looking at her phone. Then she looked back up towards the window in which only her distorted reflection could be seen due to the endlessly zigzagged trails of the raindrops seeping down.

"Can easily overcome the task if it's me huh?" She smiled slightly and then titled the phone a little inwards when she noticed Yokomine gazing at it too.

"Ehhh wow who's cheering you on so passionately Hiyama Sensei?" Yokomine's eyes widened with sheer curiosity and amusement as she leaned in closer.

Hiyama blinked a little and cleared her throat before pulling away and stuffing the phone back into her pocket.

"Ah! Could it be the one you were having an affair with!?"

Hiyama quickly turned her head to look at the girl whose face beamed with excitement as her complexion didn't reflect that of an intern working tirelessly at an overnight shift anymore.

Hiyama eventually gave up and sighed loudly before walking ahead of Yokomine towards the cafeteria.

"Shiraishi…" She bitterly muttered under her breath.

"Huh? Hiyama Sensei please wait! Answer me~"

"Quiet Yokota."

"Eh? It's Yokomine!"

The persistent girl caught up with her equally persistent senior as they both headed straight for some hot soup.

Shiraishi let out a small sneeze as she was refrigerating the last of the side dish she had cooked along with Hiyama's main course of meal.

"I wonder why I've suddenly started sneezing for the past little while..," she softly said while burying her face into her sleeve.

It took her about an hour and a half to properly prepare everything just as how Hiyama requested so that she could eat it right after coming home. Shiraishi had changed into a long night gown with a thin cardigan to keep her warm from the chilliness she felt due to the dropped temperature caused by the cooling rain.

"Haaa… finally done with this late night cooking session...though I wanted to sleep earlier.. jeez! This Hiyama is going to really drive me crazy before she's gone for good."

Shiraishi pouted to herself crossing her arms as she pondered over how she always let Hiyama win over her. She was totally planning a soothing-candle-lit-Hiyama-free evening just reading her book peacefully before going to bed early, yet it conveniently ended up in Hiyama's favour as she spent the evening working _for_ Hiyama, the very person she wanted a peace of mind from.

"Oh jeez guess it can't be helped."

Shiraishi cleaned up her kitchen nicely before heading towards her room. She threw off her slippers and was about to jump onto her bed when she noticed consistent tapping sounds on her window become violent.

"Ehh? What is this? When did it get heavier?" Shiraishi stared at the window with her shimmering round eyes and then soon walked up to it, lifting it half way. The street was dark down below; she reached her hand out to feel the cooling droplets that felt as though they may have pierced through her fingers if they hit with any more force. The wind slowly brushed up against her bangs and she took a deep breath.

"Oh my~ the air is so cool and fresh! Ah, the earthy smell is so captivating! I need to find a scented candle like that soon."

Shiraishi smiled to herself before pulling her hand back in. She then gazed at her wet hand.

"Its nice and fresh, but somehow the coolness makes me feel lonely."

She walked over to the switchboard and turned off her lights and slowly crawled into bed.

"Guess I'll just have have to keep myself busy then by the endless lifesaving duties tomorrow!"

She let her short hair fall gracefully over her neck and face with one gentle pull of the hair tie and then turned on the dull table lamp. She closed her eyes and didn't take more than 10 minutes before falling into a slumber.

End of Ch. 1


	2. Chapter 2

コード・ブルー 第 2 章

 _Because of the bad habit_

The beaming sun lighted up the whole of Shiraishi's living room as she swiftly parted the white curtains right from the center to the ends of the window in order to illuminate her apartment with the daybreak. It was still moist outside due to the rain shower that continued throughout the night and the leaves of trees still dripped down droplets of water occasionally, but the city was bustling with rapid movements of cars and people from as early as dawn. The air was tinged with an apparent coolness but it's refreshing feeling was ever so alive as soon as contact was made with skin.

Shiraishi ran over to her kitchen counter where her handbag was sitting as soon as she moved the curtains. She made a quick count of the contents inside and after grabbing the keys, ran over towards the door where her coat was hung. She slipped on her heeled boots while timidly gazing at the watch strapped around her wrist and tore her coat off from the hook of the coat stand. She flung her hair strands out from the collar of the camel coat and didn't take another second to check anything else in her apartment before flinging the door open.

Upon fully opening her door, before she could even realize what was going on in front of her, a drowsy and exhausted Hiyama fell onto her while clutching her shoulders.

"Eh? Hiyama Sensei? You're here!" Shiraishi gasped while still out of breath from scurrying out her apartment.

"Tired. Can't function anymore." Hiyama spoke forcefully in a monotone voice while head still buried in Shiraishi's shoulder.

"Eh? Aa, ok ok." Realizing that time was of the essence again, Shiraishi obediently nodded to Hiyama's remark and moved her body away again in order to avoid further expanding the unexpected confrontation. She quickly opened her yet to be locked door and in tiny but fast paced steps led Hiyama towards the couch in little pushes from the back. She picked up Hiyama's things from the front of her door step, brought them over to her, and ran back to the entrance after setting them on the couch where Hiyama was draped over.

"Ok! That's it I think. Have a good rest then." Shiraishi managed to let those few words out after sighing deeply and then was out the door again, this time managing to lock it behind her.

"Ne, what's with the rush, you could have said good morning at least!" Hiyama sourly called back towards the shut door in a mildly loud but still strongly erect tone of voice.

She then kicked off her things from the couch and twisted her body facing inwards to it while letting her arm hang out: she was ready to fall into a deep comfortable sleep after the long night shift.

* * *

The large doors of the elevator slid open after a loud ding and Shiraishi rushed out now changed into her blue scrubs with hair neatly tied in a short and sturdy pony tail. She had her file and stethoscope with her as she marched down the ER ward heading straight towards the staff office.

"Ah, good morning Shiraishi Sensei." Haitani looked up to her direction from behind the info counter where he was sitting and sorting out some file as she was passing by. He was accompanied with Saejima who had been busy standing by the shelves and gathering supplies until she looked up towards Shiraishi by Haitani's call and greeted her with a slow nod and pleasing smile.

Shiraishi quickly looked towards them returning the greeting in a wide smile of her own.

"Good morning you two~" She then picked up her pace again heading to the aimed destination.

 _Ok, so today on flight duty was Tachibana Sensei, Natori Sensei, and Yukimura San I believe…._

She quickly reiterated in her mind the schedule she had memorized from last night but seeing as how she was forgetful, shiraishi decided for herself it was better to check the details about scheduling on the info board from the staff room as she was going there anyway to follow up on patient reports from last night.

As she approached the large office, she noticed someone already in there through the window on the main door and then stopped just as she was about to turn the door handle when she recognized who it was. Kousaku Aizawa had made it to his shift earlier than scheduled yet again and was already tossing papers across the work desk, and going through documents on the computer while fully dressed in his scrubs according to protocol.

Shiraishi smiled a little before turning the handle slowly and stepping in.

"Good morning Aizawa Sensei. You're bright and early as usual I see."

Catching his attention right away, she slowly started to walk towards the "Doctor Heli Navigation Table" by the large built-in bookcase to check up on the day's schedule.

"Aa, good morning." He replied in his usual composed tone of voice and then shifted eyes back onto his computer screen.

"Ah ha~ see I thought so, it's Tachibana Sensei and Natori Sensei on heli duty today~" She happily said while gazing at the board, hands resting on her waist.

"That's right, we also just received a call from Tachibana Sensei informing that they've arrived on site already and will need as much of us as possible for standby since the patient is level 1 trauma" Aizawa informed Shiraishi as he closed his computer tabs and opened up a file laying on the desk instead.

Shiraishi attentively listened to him with her hands still resting on her waist as she turned to look at him.

"Is that so? What's his condition?"

"He fell off a 4 story building with impact to his head. Tachibana Sensei is working to stabilize him right now and will further make contact with us as soon they're on their way." Aizawa finished his sentence while tilting his head up to look at Shiraishi and then stood up after closing the file.

"Eh? A 4 story building? Then, we had better get a move on soon to prepare for their arrival. I see….so that's why everyone seemed a little frantic while I was walking up here..he's level 1 trauma..." She pressed her lips together as she quickly determined her next task and then walked towards the desk that had a computer sitting opposite to Aizawa's computer and was about to pull out the drawer when he walked over from the other side of the desk handing the file he was looking at, in front of her face.

"This is the report as well as detailed notes on the inpatient clinic information from last night. I've compiled the information on each patient's condition that was brought in and each respective doctor who attended to them."

Indeed Shiraishi was about to look for the writeups on last night's shift work in order to update everything on the online database as it was one of her responsibilities being staff leader. While the particular doctor who's in charge of his/her patient by diagnosing and prescribing medicine, is always expected to submit a comprehensive report on the patient's condition, her job as the staff leader consisted of reviewing the employee documentation and compiling it together in categories as well as other tasks like organizing their leave, and administering employee evaluations.

"Eh?"

She looked up at him with her big round eyes as his statement caught her off guard. She then politely took the file he still offered to her and started to skim through its pages.

"Oh, so you actually put together last night's entries?" She looked up at him again to confirm what she held in her hands since it still came to her as somewhat of a surprise seeing as how it _was_ quite a handful of a task to do that would have required a good chunk of her time and so having it already completed for her was not something she anticipated.

"Um, thank you, you didn't have to do this."

Shiraishi held a thankful expression on her face when she looked up at him but she also felt really bad for causing Aizawa to do more work than necessary, after all he himself had his own duties to see to, as a flight doctor as well as a member of the neurology department. And with the Toronto residency coming up soon, she didn't want to give him anything more to carry on his shoulders.

"It's not a big deal, and moreover that-"

He crossed his arms changing posture and gestured with his head towards the file in her hands.

"There's the feedback report on Haitani from last night as well. There was an elderly patient brought in with a cardiac tamponade due to a chest infection; we used cardiac ultrasound to diagnose his condition which Haitani didn't have trouble doing, however, when it came to carrying out the most appropriate treatment, he suggested using an IV fluid augmentation for effusion but given that the patient's condition was unstable, that was clearly a wrong method of treatment. He failed to sense the need of an immediate measure for the patient at that time. I suggested a surgical drainage procedure but that also, he couldn't facilitate accurately." Aizawa's tone of voice remained unchanged and as monotone as ever so she couldn't tell if he was irritated; he simply stood there still arms crossed.

After Shiraishi had patiently listened to his explanation she slowly nodded.

"Ah, you're right, he does have some ways to go. It's a good thing he was exposed to such a case though, and it was under none other than your supervision so I'm sure he learned something. Thank you for looking after him, as soon as I have time I'll go over the procedure for drainage of pericardial fluid for cardinal tamponade with him specifically outlining that If the patient is unstable, then he should employ the subxiphoid approach instead of IV and so-"

"I already went through the procedure with him instructing him while he took the lead. And then after stabilizing the patient we went over it one more time so it should be okay now." Aizawa finished saying after cutting Shiraishi's words half way.

"Eh?" She looked at him with widened eyes yet again.

After taking a moment, Aizawa let out a subtle sigh and continued to explain:

"I relayed to you that problem of his because as staff leader I feel you should know which parts he's having trouble still grasping as it's good information to know being the instructor. I've helped him out with it the best I can but should he have any more questions, just send him to me."

After Aizawa finished speaking he continued to fix his gaze on Shiraishi waiting on her response while she just stood looking at him still trying to digest what he had said to her. When a few more seconds passed by with Shiraishi's dough eyes locked on his face trying to still decipher his speech, Aizawa eventually averted eyes and initiated walking out from the office when she finally broke the silence.

"This isn't the first time." She said turning around to catch him before he left. He stopped at her words facing the door he was about to open. Shiraishi paused, let out a tiny sigh and then politely continued again.

"Aizawa Sensei you, last time as well…. took responsibility to rear Haitiani Sensei during the case of the child who was said to be feigning his stomach pain. At that time you told me you thought it was better to let him handle his own case, but by doing that you bore full responsibility if anything were to happen. That was already more than enough you know….Haitani Sensei is my pupil."

Aizawa could just about guess what she was about to say next, to tell him that he needn't bear responsibility for what she should be responsible for, so before she could speak another word, he turned around to face her once more.

"There is no such thing as 'my pupil' in this line of work right? That's because we're all a team here. I merely instructed him because I was the only able personnel to do so and he as an intern, was on his shift. It couldn't have been helped right? That's all there is to it. We help each other out as a team, it's the only way anyone can retain their sanity here." He spoke in a clear manner with tone of voice modulated in correspondence with his strong demeanour.

 _We're all a team._ Shiraishi could not help but be reminded of Hiyama's exact words that Aizawa had just reiterated again. During her phone call with Hiyama last night, Hiyama reprimanded Shiraishi for burdening herself with duties despite there being others alongside her who could be of help. She strongly reminded Shiraishi of what she herself sometimes forgot, that the only reason Lifesaving could continue facilitation, is if everyone worked together as a team relying on each other. She looked at Aizawa and thought how it was so remarkable how him and Hiyama who mostly just clashed with one another, were always saying the same things with similar opinions- saying the exact same things to her when she needed it most. Shiraishi's face mellowed with the realization that swarmed over her.

"Let's get going to the operating room to prepare for Tachibana Sensei's arrival." Aizawa then turned around again walking towards where the door was and exiting the room before she could say anything.

Shiraishi was clutching the file to her chest when she blinked her eyes a few times upon realizing he had already made his way out the office.

"Ah! Wait up!" She then propped the file on a nearby shelf and ran out the door to catch up to him while fixing her stethoscope around her neck.

Aizawa was walking long strides in the hall heading towards the ER room to receive the incoming patient as Shiraishi hurried from behind him catching up to his pace.

"Thank you." She adamantly said while looking ahead.

Aizawa tilted his head a little to look at her while she at the same time turned to meet gazes with him too.

"-for helping Haitani sensei out and compiling the reports. I'm glad I can rely on you." Shiraishi ended her sentence with a tiny nod and pursed her lips as she looked away again. Upon listening to her, Aizawa also looked away again to the far ahead where they were both headed.

"You can rely on me anytime." He firmly stated in a nonchalant manner.

Shiraishi instantly moved her eyes to look at him wondering if she had heard his low voice correctly or not.

With those last words of his he pushed open the door of the ER, Shiraishi right behind him, as they both entered the ever so bustling operating room that welcomed them with the clinking noises of medical instruments and smell only unique to the room itself given off by the clean and sterile supplies. Several nurses busied the area getting ready to intake the patient and Saejima and Haitani also being there, were already employing their respective roles.

Aizawa walked over to the the window in the ER room which led to the office of Doctor Heli's Navigation staff and gestured to the young woman sitting there with her microphone headset, to connect him to Tachibana Sensei.

He didn't need to head inside the navigation office as the computer area on the side of the ER room was sufficient to allow a connection to doctor heli once the staff from inside the office activated it. He leaned lower- both hands firmly propped on the desk- and matched his face with the microphone sitting erect on the desk.

" _This is Shohoku Doctor Heli."_

Shiraishi walked closer towards the microphone on the computer desk from where Tachibana Sensei's voice echoed out from.

" _Natori Sensei and I have secured the 35 year old male patient, Mamoru Kazutoshi, who fell off a 4 story building with a cervical collar and backboard. He is at this time unconscious and most probably has sustained a head injury. His lowest heart rate is recorded at 28 bpm, and hypertensive with an initial blood pressure of 172/118 mmHg. We'll be making a landing in about 10, please stand by."_

"Understood, will make contact to prepare for a CT scan." Aizawa gave a look to Shiraishi and she nodded back turning around to instruct the staff for preparation.

* * *

In their flight suits, Tachibana, Natori, and Yukimura hurried the 35 year old unconscious patient with level 1 trauma in the ER room where the staff on standby had well prepared for their arrival. Because this was a case of an intense trauma sustained by the patient, a full team was needed to stabilize his condition which was continuously deteriorating by the second. The stretcher was quickly hurled in and nurses along with the doctors surrounded it.

"Ok! At the count of 3 lift him up and transport him to the stretcher bed." Tachibana instructed as he checked the vitals of the 35 year old once more.

"1, 2, 3!"

As soon as he was transferred, Saejima started an intravenous line to administer the appropriate drugs while Yukimura tried to obtain a blood sample. Due to the blunt trauma the patient sustained on his head, his whole upper area was covered in blood with lacerations on his skull and cheeks. As the only neurosurgeon in the room, Aizawa immediately took charge of examining the head and whole cranial area of the patient as soon as ordering in a CT scan. He took careful measure so as not to disrupt the positioning of the cervical collar.

"Natori, evaluate the circulation of blood by checking if there's any external source of hemorrhage on his body." Aizawa said still focused on examining the patient.

"Yes" the young baby faced intern nodded before indulging in the given task.

Shiraishi grabbed a pair of surgical scissors by the equipment stand next to the stretcher and with Natori's help, cut down the patient's clothes entirely from the stomach down to his groin and left the rest for Natori and Haitiani to cut down and then check for external hemorrhages. She was about to walk over across the other side of the stretcher to where Yukimura and Tachibana were standing when Tachibana's words stopped her:

"Oi, Haitiani and Natori! Be careful with his legs." He said in a loud enough tone so the two could clearly understand him over the noise of the machines. The patient began to give subtle kicks using his feet which hindered with Haitiani and Natori's evaluation. Tachibana himself was working on stabilizing the patient when the patient also suddenly jerked his arm trying to move it away from Tachibana. Aizawa shot a look towards Tachibana's direction from the head of the stretcher where he was standing.

"Ha, it seems he's regaining consciousness, can I get some staff here to help us hold him down?" Tachibana said leaning down while putting full force onto the patient's arm and the side of his upper body.

The patient tried twisting his head while his chest propped up and down the stretcher. His kicks became violent. Haitiani made a wary face as he witnessed the sudden change in the patient's condition and then stepped back in nervousness. Natori tired pinning the patient's leg back down with all his might and then when he noticed Haitiani gone from his side he looked up making a twisted face:

"Hey! Don't just stand there, help me hold his other leg down" he said with an annoyed tone of voice which seemed equally strained from all the effort he put in oppressing the patient. Haitiani pressed his lips together and using an awkward body language, joined in the hassle trying to hold down one leg hugging it with the both of his arms.

"He's getting hostile. A definite sign of a brain injury." Aizawa determined as he swiftly walked over to Tachibana to give him a hand. The cervical collar was erect in its place so it couldn't allow much freedom for movement of the neck even if the patient fought back so he left the task of securing the patient's head to a couple of male nurses who joined in to help hold him in place. Shiraishi used both hands to squeeze down the patient's other arm from the other side of the stretcher while also taking care to not hurt the deep wounds he sustained on the arm after the fall.

"Hurry Watari san, give me a line, let's sedate this fellow shall we?" Tachibana called out to a nurse while still leaning down trying to resist the jerking movement of the patient and at the same time, straightened out his arm for the IV insertion the nurse was getting ready. The patient proved to be quite difficult to apprehend than they had initially thought since he was an adult male with a strong built body which well complemented his aggressive behaviour. Before long, he started to let out groaning sounds which only propelled his limbs to move more violently.

"Aizawa! Hold down his shoulders, he's going to cause instability to his condition again!" Tachibana instructed while working towards holding the patient's arm in place which hung from the bedside. Aizawa moved as instructed and leaned his body over a little to get a good grip of the patient's shoulder blades using the both of his arms. The patient kicked violently which led to his foot smashing against Haitani's nose. Haitani let out a sound from the pain loosening his grip from the patient's leg before eventually falling back and landing on the floor while pinching his nose.

"Oi!" Natori looked back for a brief second but then quickly returned his focus back to holding down now both of the patient's legs that began kicking forcefully by each passing moment.

"Haitani sensei! Are you alright?" Shiraishi looked down to where Haitani was sitting still pinching his nose but was quickly reprimanded by Aizawa who told her to keep on forcefully holding down the patient from her end of the stretcher alongside the other nurse and Natori. Aizawa had moved away from holding down the patient's shoulders as he had finally stopped pushing his chest up and down by Aizawa's implemented force, but still needed to be apprehended by staff since he still managed to powerfully jerk around his limbs. Aizawa kneeled down by Tachibana to firmly grip the patient's arm and keep it right side up while Tachibana got ready to receive the sedated IV.

Shiraishi had shifted attention back to the patient's arm but as soon as she saw Natori struggling again to pin down the patient's fast moving legs along with just one other male nurse, she let one grip from the patient's arm loose, and leaned her stomach over across the patient's hip and thigh to reach farther down his leg so she could help pin it in place for Natori and the nurse who were already struggling to check for external hemorrhaging. She still maintained a grip on the patient's arm with just one of her hands from the middle of the stretcher as her whole arm shook with the patient's violent movements. It was at that time when her focus was shifted towards the end of the stretcher where his legs were as she still leaned in, that she didn't take notice right away when he managed to violently shake off her single hand's grip from his arm and free it waving it in the air. He let out another loud yelp before slamming his hand down on the nearby trolley that had the medical instruments on it, sending a few tools flying off; Saejima ran over to his side upon noticing it and forcefully kicked the wheeled trolley to the side with her foot but she was too late as he'd already grabbed a hold of the kelly forceps. Aizawa's eyes and focus instantaneously shifted towards the scene as his line of sight was high enough to see across the stretcher even though he was kneeling down with one knee. Tachibana who was about to carefully execute the IV treatment, also halted his actions for a second upon hearing the loud distortion of sound from the banging of medical instruments.

"Shiraishi! Hurry and move away!" Loosening his grip on the patient's arm that was about to be sedated, Aizawa yelled frantically as he immediately stood up upon seeing the forceps clutched in the patient's hand.

The patient lost control and swung his arm around from the agony of his condition while still holding the sharp forceps. Shiraishi, who was the closest to him, had been leaning in towards his legs until Aizawa's shout made her shoot a quick look behind her with widened eyes as she witnessed the patient's arm coming down from above the air with the forceps facing her as he tightly held them locked in his fisted grip. She immediately straightened her body back up and in the split second that he swung his arm down towards her face, Aizawa threw one of his legs onto the stretcher, jabbed his knee in a space between the patient's legs after lifting his body up, and bluntly pulled aside Shiraishi's body after grabbing a hold of her upper arm from across the stretcher, forcing her to move completely away from the direction where the patient's arm was striking down with the sharp utensil. She had managed to dodge being stabbed by a direct impact from the forceps but the left side of her neck was left with a slash wound after she had been grazed by the instrument right in the second that Aizawa had gripped her arm and pulled her aside. Had she been pulled away a second later, her fragile neck would have been deeply lacerated or even worse, completely cut down by the force of the patient's arm, and sharpness of the instrument.

Tachibana managed to sedate the still violent patient with the help of another nurse and then quickly ran over to the other side of the stretcher locking the patient's arm in the grip of both of his arms and twisting it a little until the patient finally opened his clutch letting the forceps drop to the ground. For a few more seconds, he violently shook on the bed as Haitiani joined Natori and the nurse again to apply full force to suppress his legs while Aizawa with still half of his body on the stretcher, pinned down the patient's shoulders. With the passing of a few more seconds the effect of the sedatives finally kicked in causing the patient to use less and less force in fighting back against the team's strength until his whole body finally fell limp on the stretcher.

Tachibana let out a deep and heavy sigh as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his flight suit. Natori crouched to the ground equally out of breath as Tachibana, and Haitani just stood there slightly but continuously shaking from the unexpected nerve wracking event.

"Shiraishi, are you alright?" Tachibana after catching his breath, looked over to Shiraishi who had been standing aside from the stretcher since being pushed away. Her bangs were a little soaked from sweat, and scrub stained with large spots of the patient's blood as she stood there covering the side of her neck with her hand. Aizawa secured the patient's positioning before getting off the stretcher and then after covering the patient's lower area where most of his wounds were exposed, he turned around to look at Shiraishi just as Tachibana was.

"Eh? Uh, uhn." Shiraishi who seemed as if she had just recovered from a shock from Tachibana's calling out to her, focused her gaze at him and then nodded twice with a slight smile. Saejima walked up by her side looking down at her neck that she was half covering with her hand and then removed Shiraishi's hand gently replacing it with a cotton pad to cover the thin long slash across her neck which kept on bleeding.

"Thank you," Shiraishi tilted her head a little in gratitude.

"Shiraishi sensei, he means are you alright by the shock, it's clear that you've been struck there on the neck. Let's have that treated right away okay? I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the trolley in time." Saejima gently said in an apologetic expression while looking at her. Shiraishi looked over to Saejima with an astound expression and then pressed her lips:

"No, not at all, please don't worry about it. Uhm~...," she nodded again, "It's only a graze really, I'll get it cleaned up so it's fine."

She then looked away from Saejima's direction after Saejima didn't say anything and then roamed her large perplexed eyes around the ER room which had become a wreck in the few last minutes with sharp utensils scattered on the ground and splatters of blood stained across the floor. She looked at Natori and Haitani's concerned gazes towards her and the other nurses of whom some already proceeding to clean the area and some still tending to the unconscious patient. Her gaze then stopped at Aizawa's who had been sharply focusing in on her expression while she had spoken.

Tachibana nodded his head to Shiraishi's reply and then started to walk across the ER room.

"Yosh, that's that then, we're lucky you didn't get hurt any more than this Shiraishi." He said stopping in front of her and then turning around to look at Aizawa. "Uhm!" He nodded, "that was a good save Aizawa, it would have definitely been bad if you didn't step in with the speed that you did, well done." Aizawa just slightly nodded while Tachibana turned around again to face the ER room speaking in a clear voice:

"If everyone is okay let's get back to administering the correct treatment on this patient; something like this is not totally foreign for trauma level one patients given their complex mental state due to the injury. We should all be ready to encounter this in such a work force. As Aizawa has said, he became hostile due to a likely injury he sustained in his head which means even if he's stabilized now, his condition is still prone to turn around again. Aizawa, take him down to the CT scan room while I consult the cardiology department for the impact left on his chest from the fall. Natori go with Aizawa, and Haitani make contact with his family. And as for Shiraishi, you should take a break for now." He finally finished his words off glancing back at her again. She didn't know how else to reply so she only nodded still keeping her hand on her neck. Aizawa prepared to leave the chaos struck room with the patient's stretcher being accompanied by Natori, and Saejima patted Shiraishi's shoulder in reassurance before gesturing with her hand to have her exit the room as well with Saejima herself being right behind her. Aizawa pulled the stretcher from the front while Natori pushed from behind as they headed towards the door. Shiraishi finally initiated to relocate from her spot as she stepped towards the exit; Aizawa who was close at hand pulling along the stretcher, locked his eyes on her face keeping his own expression stern, and then shifted his gaze down to her neck that she had been hiding with her hand. He couldn't say anything at the moment due to the urgency with the patient's condition, but didn't have a doubt in his mind that her injury although not fatal, had still caused a relatively serious impact on her body, especially because it was the neck area- not to mention he had also noticed her face change into a pale colour which further proved her injury was taking a toll. Upon the realization, Aizawa's expression turned into a concerned look as he slightly knitted his eyebrows together gazing at her direction and watching her exit the room. He could only deduce one thing: she was in pain.

* * *

Saejima led Shiraishi towards the open hall away from the ER room when Shiraishi had changed into a new pair of scrubs, completely disposing those blood drenched ones. The two of them walked to the open desk area across from where the large decorative "wish tree" of the hospital was situated. Shiraishi sat down on one of the stools in front of a computer as she was covering her neck wound with a new cotton pad and then looked up towards the worried Saejima who stood beside her.

"Ne, I'm really fine now you know. It seems the blood has dried and the wound itself stopped bleeding so I think it'll just heal on its own anyway." She said trying her very best to sound reassuring as she stared at the nurse with firm dough eyes.

"It was pretty serious at that time. Any more deeper the wound would have been, we would have needed to intubate you. But still, do not just get relaxed as the severity has not been properly established yet Shiraishi sensei. You know better. Let me treat it properly." The nurse, who was even more firm on her opinion than Shiraishi, answered back quickly.

"Ah, as expected Saejima san really is scary," Shiraishi softly said twisting her body a little away on the stool while pouting and averting eyes slowly. Saejima brought her hands to her hips making a displeasing face towards Shiraishi.

Shiraishi then glanced back at her and broke into a gentle smile, "Because my friend has been so caring towards me, the wound has already stopped bleeding and the stinging has lessened as well from applying pressure to it. For now, I think that's good enough. It's almost time for me to make my rounds too. I have haven't checked on the elderly patient, Kumiko san's condition yet ever since yesterday afternoon so I definitely need to see her now to administer new medication. I can't be selfish now. Ah, and also, Saejima san is switching with Yukimura san soon for flight duty with Tachibana sensei in the afternoon shift right?"

Saejima just patiently listened to the confident looking doctor, but still kept a concerned expression. When it dawned upon Shiraishi that she may have a chance at winning her own statement, she quickly spoke up again as she patted Saejima's back:

"-that's why, please get going soon and take your time to properly prepare. If the facility is moving smoothly without hindrance, that'll also make my job as staff leader easier too." Shiraishi gave another honest smile to Saejima as a final assurance to let her know she was okay. After a couple of seconds Saejima sighed and shot a quick look at the clock behind them. It was true, there were only 40 minutes left until Yukimura rotated shifts with her for the afternoon so that didn't give her much time to get everything ready, plus there was also the aftermath of today's incident she had left to deal with in the ER room alongside the other nurses. She looked back at Shiraishi who was still smiling and said in a serious expression:

"Before anything else, you should patch that wound up all the way with a tape gauze, and if after that there's any sensation of pain or stinging, have it looked at properly do you understand?" She finished her sentence by leaning her face in a little towards Shiraishi's gullible looking face. Without pulling back Shiraishi obediently nodded to which Saejima sighed and started to make her way back towards the large hall they had come from moments ago.

After Saejima had disappeared into the grand space leading to the ER ward, Shiraishi let out a deep breath and then smiled looking at the direction the nurse disappeared from: she was reminded moment and moment again how she always had someone to rely upon during times of difficulty, and that in itself was more healing than any treatment. She then got up the stool and threw out the cotton pad she was pressurizing with her hand and grabbed a tape gauze from the nearby cabinet peeling it off to stick it on her neck. Before applying it on the wound she walked into the closest washroom to properly analyze her injury in the mirror. Indeed on the left side of her neck was a slanted fresh slash wound about 5 inches in length which almost looked like an external laceration given it's protrudent texture. She gulped a little upon the sight which was new to her. However, given the fact the penetration wasn't too deep into her tissue, Shiraishi wasn't having breathing problems which gave her a little reassurance. But still, since she had not been hurt this way before, especially in an area which was so exposing and fragile at the same time, the sight of such a wound on her own body made her feel nauseous. And even though it wasn't a deep injury, it was a little wider than she had thought which only fueled the throbbing she felt.

 _My goodness….I can understand now why Saejima san was so persistent after looking at this._

Shiraishi washed her hands properly and then tried to apply the gauze when she momentarily stopped after noticing from the mirror that right in the middle of the deep cut, some fresh blood started to accumulate again. She let out a sigh and determined there wasn't anything else she could do at the moment but just firmly stick the gauze right on it hoping that the blood would dry up again and the wound itself would begin to clot. She counted to three in her head and then slowly but firmly, applied the long strip of the gauze overtop the entirety of the wound. She immediately squinted her eyes by the touch which stung her whole neck area and began desperately fanning the area with her hand. When she opened her eyes she saw her own exhausted and pain stricken complexion in the mirror.

 _How embarrassing….this is what ends up happening to the staff leader...so embarrassing. If it wasn't for Aizawa sensei's fast reflexes, would I have even survived?_

She made a grim face staring at herself in the mirror and then shook her head rapidly to elude herself from further negative thoughts as her time for making rounds was just around the corner. Because Shiraishi didn't think such an expression would sit well with her patients who were trying to get better themselves, she deemed it was best to rinse her whole face with some cold water and then get a coffee so she could become refreshed again before starting her rounds.

* * *

Natori watched focused as the patient resting on the scanning machine's narrow bed, slowly glided into the large spherical apparatus which was fixed right above where the patient lay. He then turned around and headed out the CT scanning room after finishing transferring the 35 year old head trauma patient on the scanning machine with the help of the CT X-ray radiologist; he entered another enclosed room which was dimly lit with computer screens situated in all corners of the small room. He carefully closed the door behind him and walked up to a desk that was right against the wall dividing the CT scanning room and the small computerized office he'd just walked into. There was a huge computer sitting atop the desk and its operator who'd been intensely focused on the X-ray depictions of the patient's head, looked up as he heard Natori walk in.

"Ah, looks like the results of the cross sectional images are out, aren't they Aizawa sensei?" The young intern asked focusing gaze on the computer as he leaned down next to where his senior doctor sat across from the computer.

"That's right." Aizawa said looking back onto the screen which Natori was already studying.

"Eh? Where's the place of impact?" Natori twisted his face a little in confusion as he struggled to find the place of injury within the patient's brian who was thought to have been become hostile earlier to due a blunt injury imposed on his head. Just as he had looked up at Aizawa hoping for some explanation, the office door opened with Tachibana entering alongside Saijo sensei. Aizawa and Notori both slightly nodded to greet.

"Alright Aizawa! How's it looking? What's the scanning got to say about this rather rowdy patient huh?" Tachibana said in his usual crisp tone as he put a hand on Aizawa's shoulder walking up behind his chair. Saijo sensei followed too resting one hand on his cheek as his expression turned into a frown after deciphering through the X-ray images.

"Aizawa, this…." Saijo began to spoke when Aizawa quickly replied to the three eagerly wanting some information.

"Yes, it's as you see too Saijo sensei." He moved the mouse so it was positioned atop the left lobe of the patient's brain scan and then encircled the pointer around a tiny grey dot which seemed as the only vivid abnormality on the scan.

"Interestingly enough, this on the upper left part of the lobe is a tiny spec of blood, the only injury this patient has seemingly sustained during the fall. Although it's exactly this that accounts for his sudden aggression, it's just an apparent contusion that he's endured, the small rupturing of his brain tissues- nothing else like hemorrhaging." Aizawa finished saying still keeping focus on the screen.

"Huh? Are you serious? Just this? But his fall was almost fatal and the external wounds are quite significant too." Tachibana said bewildered from Aizawa's unexpected report. Natori widened his eyes in amazement too looking at Aizawa.

"You're right Tachibana, it's quite the strange case but not impossible actually. Miraculously, his head did manage to avoid internal bleeding even though the impact was great externally and elsewhere on his body. If it's just this, he won't be needing any cranial surgery but we will need to prescribe some medicine to alleviate the mental shock he was in. But as far as the injury goes, it'll just heal on its own since as Aizawa said there's no obvious hemorrhage to worry about." Saijo sensei finished saying with a confident tone but in just as a surprised expression as Natori and Tachibana.

"Of course, it's a given that this patient still has a long recovery here ahead with multiple fractures all over his body." Aizawa said closing the computer tab after saving the documents and arising from his chair.

"He just got lucky escaping with a mere tissue rupture which in normal circumstances would have been a difficult injury to even treat." Aizawa finished his statement as he stood with a file in hand, looking straight at the three doctors in front him.

"Ha! That really is what you call great luck." Tachibana said finally accepting the results.

"I'd say so." Saijo shrugged slightly smiling at Tachibana's remark.

"Well, I've contacted the cardiology department and scheduled in an examination to check on his heart condition as the wounds to his chest seemed bad so I'll have you, Natori, take care of that too. Aizawa your rounds are about to start to get on with preparing for that while I run down the Emergency room to check on the situation there. There might be an incoming call from the fire department soon for doctor heli so I'm gonna prep for that as well." Tachibana finished his sentence with a firm nod to make sure his point got across to the ones he instructed and then exited the office with Saijo sensei who followed behind after giving a pat to Aizawa on the shoulder.

"Natori, just relocate him to the cardiology department with the nurses helping you and then examine his condition again when you arrive there. The tranquilizers should keep him knocked out for a few more hours, call me after that and I'll prescribe the correct medicine and meet with his family." Aizawa relayed to Natori as he himself got ready to exit the office.

"Yes will do" The young intern answered before turning around and walking back into the scanning room where the radiologist stood with the sleeping patient.

* * *

"Alright Kumiko San~ there's no apparent pressure in the jugular vein and everything else looks good here too except let's just prolong your intake of those preload reducers a little more to really make sure no pressure is caused by fluid going into your heart and lungs ok?"

Shiraishi leaned away from the elderly patient's bed with a great big smile as she finished her examination on the woman who had previously been hospitalized after being brought in with Pulmonary Edema which arose due to her poor cardiac health. She had gone through a coronary angiography by the orders of her attending physician, Shiraishi, who had deemed the elderly patient as at high risk at the time so kept her at the inpatient clinic.

"Eh? Is that so? Well as long as I'm getting better. Thank you Shiraishi sensei."

The weak yet still perky woman slowly said in a tone full of joy answering back to Shiraishi as she grasped both of her cold hands.

"Oh, no, please, it's my pleasure. I'm glad Kumiko san's condition has gotten much better now." Shiraishi also answered back in the same joyful tone slighting scrunching her face as she blinked her eyes tight with lips pressed together in a widening smile, and then gave the hands which were wrapped around hers, a little squeeze.

"Oh my you're the sweetest girl aren't you?" The elderly woman returned Shiraishi's kind gesture with a compliment and then paused a little before saying:

"But your complexion my dear, it seems quite pale. Are you perhaps working too hard? And my these slender hands...," the woman shook Shiraishi's hands a little as she looked down at the them. "These hands as well, they're so cold."

"Eh?" Shiraishi widened her shimmering round eyes at the old woman's remark until quickly remembering her condition which as she had understood, kept on declining during the last hour or so when she had been conducting her rounds meeting different patients. Shiraishi quickly changed her expression in a soft smile again until speaking up once more,

"You needn't be worried Kumiko san, it's only slight fatigue which will shortly go away as I take my break."

She then exchanged a few more words with the elderly patient until it seemed the woman was satisfied with what Shiraishi said, and then finally exited the inpatient clinic as she headed to the open desk area to update her reports on the patients she had just seen. Shiraishi tilted her neck a little when she felt it stiffen due to the pain of the swelling. She clicked her tongue a little when the sharp pain was sparked by the movement of her neck and then she finally gave up limping it against the wall when she had arrived at the computer desk.

"Aaa~ even Kumiko san noticed. This isn't good. And the pain is getting greater and greater that it's starting to become hard to carry out my tasks…..what should I do?" Shiraishi slowly moaned in low voice with annoyance while keeping her head rested on the wall by the supply cabinet until she heard someone call her name.

"Eh?" She suddenly looked up unconsciously opening the cabinet pretending to take out a few things.

"Umm Shiraishi sensei, I wanted to ask how you're doing now."

Haitiani slowly walked up by the desk where she stood, his condition, looking as unbalanced as ever. She looked at him for a second until finally letting a tiny breath out closing the cabinet.

"Haitiani sensei, I should be asking you that too you know."

She pointed at the wound across his nose and then giggled when he hurried to cover it after finally realizing what she was referring to.

"Oh! Ah...um yes this! Please don't mind this, it was throbbing earlier but I'm fine now." He said still pinching his nose with the both of his hands.

"Yes yes, but let me just see that for a moment first ok?"

Shiraishi answered back playfully as she proceeded to grasp his thin arms and move them away from his nose. After glancing at his wound which had turned a little purple she crossed her arms and then shook her head.

"That's no good~ we'll have to tend to it now as the spot is quite sensitive where you were punched." She then turned around to open the cabinet once more and quickly took out a few contents with purpose this time.

"Huh? Is it really that bad? Um well, ok then. Thank you."

Haitani didn't like arguing with his senior instructor whose encouragement meant the world to him; or rather, it was more of not wanting to cause her any more trouble than he already had caused in the past so he obediently let her work on his nose. He slowly started to move on with his life after the Doctor Heli crashing incident as he'd slowly learned from Shiraishi that mistakes were a part of the cycle of growing up and dispelling them. She had adamantly told him she expected more from him and that he wouldn't ever be alone in this journey; she told him she looked forward to his growth, something which overtook him as miraculous because someone who was in such a high status as her, actually held expectations from the no good him who let her down repeatedly. Such an encouragement propelled him into doing the best again and overlooking his past. So now, as being the doctor Haitiani who was a part of her lifesaving, he wanted to give back to her and support her with his skills so she could finally see the growth in him as she promised she would. Shiraishi had given him hope again, and he wasn't going to disregard it. His disgraceful actions in the past were already shameful enough so he now needed to overcome his past self and prove his worth that Shiraishi already believed in.

Shiraishi cleared his wound gently with a cotton she held in place with a pair of tweezers and then after disinfecting it, strapped a wide bandage across his nose where he was injured.

"Ok done! Now it might bruise later so don't be too rash while carrying out your work ok? Just take it easy and repeat the cleaning before you sleep tonight alright?"

Haitani nodded a little and then pressed his lips together as his eyes gleamed as a response to her kindness.

"Oi! Are you causing trouble yet again?" A voice echoed from the abyss of the lobby causing both Shiraishi and Haitiani to look back into the direction where it came from; both Natori and Yukimura were heading their way.

Haitiani hurried to hold his stance: " N-No… Shiraishi sensei insisted I be treated that's all."

He quickly answered back defensively as Shiraishi smiled to the both of the newcomers in a greeting.

"Uwa, Shiraishi sensei that's a big bandage you've got around your wound, were you really injured not that seriously?" Yukimura spoke right away after noticing Shiraishi's great big gauze tape which fit across her 5 inch slash wound. Natori shifted his eyes to the wound as well before also commenting:

"Aa, that's true, it looks serious."

"Guys really, I'm quite alright even though it looks ugly. You've all been so supportive continuing to do your best even though it's so busy right now… but really you mustn't worry at all! I'm totally up and running!"

Shiraishi waved her hands back and forth as she tried to explain to them she was ok. Natori just listened while Yukimura slowly nodded.

"Ah! Yes! More importantly, that patient from earlier, Kazutoshi san, is Aizawa sensei looking after him? What did he find out about his injury?" Shiraishi quickly spoke again as she remembered about the patient all of a sudden when her own injury, that he'd caused, was mentioned.

"Oh him, yeah that guy's fine surprisingly. Well, aside from the obvious external impact, his brain injuries aren't serious at all, just a minor contusion that's it." Natori finished saying nonchalantly as Shiraishi just stared at him with widened eyes.

"What? No internal injury to the brain? Is that what the CT scan showed? Wow he's so fortunate!" She was still surprised as she concentrated on Natori's face.

"Yes, well all of us were surprised as you are now to be honest. Didn't look like he'd even make it but then that rage earlier! Jeez what was that if his brain's intact?! What a bother this idiot! Who'd even jump off a 4 story building in broad daylight?!" Natori took a seat on a stool by Haitani as he shook his head finally letting out the frustration he'd been enduring from back in the ER room as they all struggled to tame the patient. Shiraishi's round eyes followed him when he sat down with exhaustion.

"He was actually drunk when he fell off his apartment building. That's at least what I've heard from Tachibana sensei." Yukimura answered back to Natori's frustration. Natori then looked up at her his expression as annoyed as ever.

"Ha?! Drunk?! That's the reason?" He then slammed his down on the table after she nodded to his question. Shiraishi exchanged a look with the perplexed Haitiani until lightly patting her hand on Natori's head trying to console him from his own agitation. Yukimura rolled her eyes at Natori's exaggeration and then dismissed herself to tend to her duties again after bowing to Shiraishi.

"Oh right!" Shiraishi finally broke the silence. "Did anyone contact his family yet?" She then matched her gaze with just the person who looked like he was about to answer:

"Ah yes! I actually did earlier. His mother and fiancé will be arriving in the evening as they live out of town and Aizawa sensei is supposed to meet with them to consult his condition."

Shiraishi slowly nodded to Haitiani. "Is that so? Well that's good then."

A few seconds passed by in silence with Natori's head still down on the table as he cooled himself off when Haitani made a sound again making Shiraishi jerk as she quickly looked back up at him; Natori's head shot up all the same.

"What is it?" She said frantically fixing eyes on Haitani who looked back at her in surprise looking jittery as if he was about to say something urgent.

"Really now can you stop doing that? You're always making those inhumane noises out of the blue and startling perfectly sane people." Natori snapped back now propping his head on his hand while his elbow rested on the counter.

Haitani fixed his glasses with one hand until speaking again, "Oh uh sorry! It's just that I remembered now why I came looking for Shiraishi sensei in the first place!" Haitani managed to say out loud as realization struck him. Natori listened looking uninterested while Shiraishi just continued to gaze at Haitani hoping he'd speak further. She then tilted her head downwards a little to encourage his timid speech to continue on.

"I-it was during the time I reported back to Aizawa sensei after making contact with Kazutoshi san's family. When I relayed to him about when to meet the family, he asked me afterwards if I had seen you since the incident in the ER room and when I told him I hadn't he looked a little ummm disappointed to me, so I just...thought I'd come and tell you myself. Ah! That time he had just come out from the CT scanning room and was heading to the main staff office so maybe he already found out by the schedule posted in there that you're doing rounds now and will come find you soon."

"Eh? Aizawa sensei was looking for me?" Shiraishi pointed towards herself when she asked as her expression looked a little astonished.

After Haitani nodded and then became silent again, Natori's expression suddenly looked as if just a little interest was sparked again and his eyeballs slowly rotated from Haitiani to Shiraishi:

"Ehhhh," he spoke before Shiraishi could react again as he slowly spun around the stool he was sitting on towards her direction, still resting his head on his hand.

The oblivious Shiraishi blinked a few times as she looked down at her clever junior who'd changed gazes from Haitani.

"Aizawa sensei was looking for you? Wow, he must be really worried. And come to think of it, he's the one who actually so heroically saved you too that time didn't he?" Natori asked as innocently as Shiraishi looked down on him but his underlying purpose, extremely well plotted and preyful as he waited for her to respond.

"Hm? Well, I guess he would be worried…" Shiraishi titled her head a little to the side immersed in her own response until Natori tried again:

"It sure seems like he really was, based on how he tried looking for you, ne?" Natori showed her a cute genuine smile and then turned his stool away again back to Haitani's side leaving the calm yet dazed looking Shiraishi still stuck in a state of oblivion.

"This is news to me. I wonder Just what it _really_ means..." Natori smirked as he said to himself in a low voice. Haitani just looked down at him confused and still in pain from the punch wound.

"Eh? Did you say something Natori sensei?" Shiraishi leaned in from behind a little towards him but stopped there as he finally got off the stool and then walked over beside Haitani throwing his arm around his shoulders.

"Nope~ nothing at all Shiraishi sensei~ Ah, but if Aizawa sensei _was_ looking for you then maybe you should go find him and see what he wants." The intern joyfully said showing no more signs of his previous agitation he had been dwelling in until moments ago. Shiraishi looked at him with her expression turning a little skeptical, but not for the right reasons as she was still clueless to his implied teasing. She still nonetheless tried to say something as she parted her lips to speak but was interrupted by Natori who cut her off to speak again:

"Oh~ well, guess we'd better get going now! I still have to re-examine Kazutoshi san and then head to the ER again." After finishing his sentence Natori shot a slight smile towards Shiraishi before spinning his body around to head towards the large lobby still hovering his arm around Haitani's shoulders, forcing him to walk along.

"Eh? Um but I'm still on my break..?" Haitani still confused since last speaking, quickly tried to testify while being dragged along by his way too cunning fellow intern but that attempt of course, went down in vain as they had already crossed the corridor halfway.

Shiraishi continued staring in the direction they had disappeared to until blinking a couple of times and then finally turning around shaking her head a little and sighing.

"I never did understand him anyways…" She said with a soft voice as she collected the appropriate files from a nearby shelf and then headed towards the staff office.

She was halfway to the office when a light buzz from her phone caught her attention making her momentarily halt. She pulled out her phone from the pocket of her trousers and gazed at the lock screen with the time shown as 4:35 pm and right underneath it, a text notification.

 _Sender: Hiyama_

 _Hey hey~ I just woke up! Uwah~ feels so nice to wake up after a good sleep in your comfy bed! And the food you made was so delicious I could cry! Thanks so much you're really amazing~ How is the shift coming along?_

Shiraishi was in the midst of smiling while reading the message when she paused on her face expression as soon as it dawned upon her where Hiyama actually spelt. Her round eyes widened a little upon the realization and she huffed while resorting to text Hiyama back. As soon as she was about to press send, something caught her attention making her shift gazes from the phone towards in front of her.

There was a patient struggling in a wheelchair a few meters ahead of her in the large hallway. The patient was a boy in his late teens with messy brunette hair and a pale slim figure. He was still wearing his pajamas from the morning along with a pair of red worn out slippers. He was forcing his body to rock back and forth in the chair he was sitting in trying to get it to move forward but it wouldn't budge no matter the effort he put in. Shiraishi quickly slid her phone back into her pocket and then looked around frantically; as soon as she saw him continue to struggle with no victory, she jogged towards him bringing her hand to the wound on her neck when it throbbed by her thumping movement.

She slammed the files she was holding on the floor:

"Excuse me, please calm down a little, is your wheelchair not working?" She said putting one hand on his chair and kneeling down to his height to study his condition as soon as she caught up to him. Her words came out in a little huff as the striking pain in her neck had been triggered again.

The boy met eyes with her with an expression that seemed somewhat surprised by her sudden appearance. He stared at her cautiously as she looked back with a concerned expression waiting for his answer. His eyes moved down to the hugely obvious bandage on her neck and then quickly gazed back at her face before averting eyes again. He then spoke in a low and composed voice:

"No, it's not really a big deal but I think it's just busted. Must be because I was too rough with it while playing basketball."

Shiraishi calmly listened to him until her face elicited a confused look when he mentioned playing basketball. He slowly looked back at her, this time being the one waiting for an answer. Shiraishi gazed down at his legs which fell limp on the wheelchair and then understood what he had meant. She urgently met gazes with him again and spoke in a clear yet still soft voice:

"So, you're from the rehabilitation center and as a part of your exercise, had gone out to the courtyard to play basketball, but played too rough and damaged your wheelchair?" She carefully finished saying being almost a hundred percent sure that was the case.

"Not as a part of any exercise, just because I wanted to." He shot back at her in still a low tone but a little more sharper and then looked away again. Shiraishi kindly nodded still focused on his expression and then broke into a wide smile.

"I see. Either way, it's great that you were able to get out today in the sun and spend time on a healthy activity. Plus if it's your favourite then, that's all the more reason to-"

"It's not like that. I just felt suffocated in that rehabilitation room and needed some air, that's all." He sharply cut her off now unveiling an annoyed look.

Shiraishi just stared at the boy and then pressed her lips together realizing she might have hurt him. She felt bad for turning the atmosphere grim all of a sudden and so just quietly apologized to him not further commenting on it but rather choosing to address the issue at hand:

"Um, what you're trying to do is get back at the rehabilitation center correct?" She finally broke the silence by softly speaking again. By the change of topic, the boy nodded a little still looking away.

"Then let me call some service and see if we can replace it with a brand new one." She said genuinely smiling again when she saw he reacted a little again. She spoke into her radio giving her location and requesting 3 nurses to come down with a wheelchair for a patient that needed to be transported to the rehabilitation ward. After she was done she gazed at his face again revealing another smile while still kneeling down to his height. He just kept his gaze busy elsewhere.

"So, what is your name?" She asked politely. She knew the boy was already in distress and so thought to alleviate the tension just a bit by making small talk, after all, she thought she was fairly good at it so why not? The boy slowly met eyes with her again and took a moment while Shiraishi continued to stare at him with curious dough eyes. He eventually spoke under his breath:

"Hikaru."

By finally getting to hear the kind of response she was expecting from a rather introverted kid, she narrowed her eyes in awe and replied in a joyful tone:

"Well then Hikaru-kun, it's nice to meet you. I am Shiraishi sensei from Lifesaving!" She held her hand out towards him but paused when she notocied she had taken him in by surprise at the greeting. She made a questioning look when she noticed his expression change.

"You're from there too…." He spoke to himself in something that sounded like a whisper as he casted his line of sight away from her again.

"Eh? Did you say something?" Shiraishi said bringing her hand up to her own ear as she focused in on him more to interpret his reaction.

"Nothing." He answered back speaking just enough louder that she could hear him this time.

"Aright! Then let me see if I can get this chair to budge as we wait for the new one." She lifted her body a little and leaned in towards him bringing her arms around the huge wheels on both sides of the chair when the boy suddenly reacted by using his hand to push on her upper chest and shoulder with force in order to push her away.

"Stop!" He shot back raising his voice. When he finally looked towards her again still with an angry face, he changed his expression a little when he saw her kneel back down by his legs using her hand to cover the spot where the bandage was. She was squeezing her eyes shut with a pale expression on her face which instantly made the boy realize where he had actually struck her. The blood started to ooze out from the sides of her bandage and she started to huff with pain but didn't speak a word; instead, the boy noticed she slowly opened her eyes again clinging on to his chair for support and then after another a deep breath, fixed her gaze back up at him still covering the neck wound that had been scathed by his implemented force. She knitted her eyebrows together because of the pain and then after deeply gulping opened her mouth:

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She finally spoke forcing her voice so that it wouldn't crack. After saying that she looked back down again propping her hand on the floor and trying to slowly lift her body in order to stand up.

The boy just followed her movements with his eyes still trying to swallow what had happened. His expression looked shocked as he watched her struggling to stand back up. Then just as he was going to speak to her, 3 nurses, one of them a male, came from behind making the boy stop before he opened his mouth and Shiraishi turn around to their call.

"Ah, hello, thank you for coming as soon as you could." So as not to move her neck at all which had begun to throb intensely, Shiraishi made an effort to turn her whole body to face the nurses as she slowly spoke. The nurses nodded while the boy just continued to stare at the Shiraishi who had clearly been struck with immense pain as the bleeding became more and more apparent, even staining a part of her hand that she had gently placed over top of the area.

"This patient here, Hikaru-kun, is currently admitted in the rehabilitation center and was just out for a while in the courtyard until he ended up damaging his wheelchair. I'd appreciate it if you could help him out of this chair onto the new one and then take him back to the rehab center." After giving them the instructions Shiraishi made some obvious effort to force a smile on her pained face at the nurses. One of the nurses took notice of Shiraishi's paled complexion and the wound she tried to cover and then spoke in a concerning tone:

"Oh yes, um but are you alright Sensei? There's blood on your neck and you don't look too well." The nurse finished saying hesitantly.

Shiraishi only nodded smiling again and then after glancing back at Hikaru, smiled a little wider before speaking once more:

"I'm sorry if I offended you today Hikaru-kun, but I was glad to hear you were able to play basketball. I hope you feel better soon, keep trying your best."

After relaying those words to him she left the boy in the care of the nurses and began to walk to the direction she was initially headed towards after picking up her files again. The boy also wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words in enough time so he just let the nurses help support his body as he switched chairs.

* * *

After about a 5 minute ride on the wheelchair alongside the 3 nurses, Hikaru finally entered the rehabilitation ward which led into a long hall consisting of several rooms. One of the nurses pressed a button on the side of a large door causing it to slide open, and led him into another wide area which consisted of several tables and chairs with props sitting on top of them that were used by the rehab patients for exercising purposes. Towards the side was a large information desk as well as a couple of rehab bars that were being occupied by a middle aged man who had been trying to slowly move his legs using the support from the bars while propelling his body upright. From across the the area was a large glass window which revealed another room from the other side where several beds were lined up with a few metres of space between them. The two female nurses left after checking Hikaru in at the info desk while the single male nurse continued to push his chair into the room ahead. The boy found himself surrounded with others there who were just like him, going through some sort of disability. All beds were being occupied by different patients- some being tended to by the nurses or doctors, and others just sleeping. As soon as he started to make way to his own bed he was halted in his way by a familiar perky voice from across the room:

"Hiiikaru-kun~ are you back from playing basketball now? You sure took a while."

As he looked up, there was a fraile girl with long silky hair standing by the side of her bed waving to him with a wide smile; she was dressed in her pajamas as well but looked way more neater and elegant than the boy himself. Alongside the girl was another figure who seemed to have been accompanying her; upon first glance it was obvious that he was a doctor, though not an unfamiliar one for the boy had frequently seen this young handsome doctor going in and about the rehab centre doing check ups on the said girl. Although he had only once spoken to the doctor himself when he was first admitted to Shohoku a month ago, because of that cheerful girl who was so noisy all the time, especially recently, he had come to learn that the young graceful doctor was called Aizawa Sensei. As soon as Hikaru set his eyes on the doctor, he couldn't help but stare at his blue scrubs which were exactly the same as the ones the Lifesaving doctor from before wore. He changed his expression upon the sight and then quickly looked back at the girl when she called out to him again:

"Eh? Hikaru-Kun what's the matter?" The young girl tilted her face a little as the doctor beside her helped her on the bed.

"Uh, no it's nothing. Yes I'm back. I think I'll be sleeping now." He looked at her briefly before averting gazes again and moving his chair towards his own bed which was about 5 beds across from hers. The nurse followed behind quickly speaking:

"Oh wait please, Hikaru-kun right? Let me properly help you up." The male nurse who had said that, took one of Hikaru's arms and swung it around his own neck, then he tried to support one side of the boy's body with his own weight in order to lift him from the chair. As it was just one person, the nurse struggled to lift the boy up properly. Aizawa, who had just finished with helping the girl up on her own bed, took notice of the male nurse and the limp Hikaru leaning against the nurse who was having difficulty moving him onto the bed safely, and then walked over to their side and nodded at the nurse letting him know he would support Hikaru from the other side.

"Ah! Thank you very much sensei!" The nurse smiled and then lifted Hikaru together with Aizawa, positioning him properly onto the bed. This was the first time the boy had such a close contact with the young doctor so he couldn't help but stare at him a little astonished at how he had immediately come by to help. Hikaru had felt himself get well supported by just even one of the lifesaving doctor's strong arms. His uniform was identical to that of the female doctor from before, only the half sleeve of the scrub's shirt read " " instead of " ," and the shirt itself fit well across his toned broad chest. The nurse turned to Hikaru to politely speak to him:

"Alright Hikaru-kun, seems like everything is good! Please be careful with this wheelchair next time. You were lucky the other sensei from lifesaving was there to help you at the time, but that may not always be the case when you're wandering off alone."

Hikaru looked up at the nurse when he mentioned the "other" doctor from lifesaving and then couldn't help but to also shift his line of sight towards Aizawa who had been standing beside his bed. The lifesaving doctor still stood tall and quiet except that his face expression seemed a little more focused towards the male nurse now. Then to Hikaru's surprise, the stern doctor finally spoke:

"Was this young patient involved in some sort of accident just now? Is he hurt?"

"Huh? Ah no no, he's fine actually! His wheelchair had just gotten stuck and malfunctioned so we received a call from one of the doctors of lifesaving who had ran into him and helped him there; she had requested we bring in another chair to transport him safely."

Aizawa remained silent for a few seconds before answering again: "I see."

But when the male nurse spoke up again, frowning a little bit while tilting his head, Aizawa looked back up at him in an instant anticipating on what the nurse was about say.

"Although….it was a little strange at the time…" he said still tilting his head.

"Strange?"

"Ah, because the sensei herself seemed to have sustained some sort of injury too as her neck it seemed was bleeding at the time and she looked a bit unwell."

Aizawa who had been listening diligently standing straight with a posture where one hand was to his chin while elbow resting on his other arm which was wrapped across his lower chest, slowly began to lose that posture as his hand came down from his chin while eyes still closely fixed on the nurse but now giving off a sense of urgency. Hikaru's head was down but he could still see the young lifesaving doctor from the corner of his eyes. Hikaru gulped upon realizing quickly that the young lifesaving doctor _did_ in fact show reaction as soon as the female doctor was identified. He slowly tilted his head to study the doctor's reaction who had been standing next to his bed immersed in the nurse's words.

Without waiting another second, Aizawa took full initiative to step closer to the nurse and speak up immediately:

"How long ago was this incident, and where did you encounter the patient and the doctor?" He said in his usual modulated voice but this time spitting his words out with a crisp tone.

The nurse who had not been expecting the sudden interest Aizawa took with urgency, looked a little startled but eventually answered the question he knew he had to answer as quick as possible.

"Oh, ah that, it was by the second entrance of the rehabilitation courtyard, about half way close to the hall leading to the ER ward."

As soon as the nurse finished speaking, Aizawa gestured a subtle nod and then went back around to where the young girl's bed was situated to pick up his files. The girl who had been watching the three of them since earlier, looked confused and a little startled at the quick response her attending doctor had elicited upon the mention of the other lifesaving doctor. Her eyes followed his quick movements as he swiftly paced towards the door leading out of the room; she eventually called out:

"Aizawa sensei! Wait!"

Though she did make an effort to halt him, his lack of attention towards anyone around him since he heard of the news about the other doctor clearly signaled to her that calling out to him would not even slow his pace let alone make him stop in his steps, and sure enough, as she had finished saying his name out loud, he was already out the door now even exiting the rehab department as he passed the main information desk and crossed the sliding doors. Hikaru also stared behind the doctor who was long gone now as he struggled to come to terms with how _he himself_ had actually been the one to cause the female doctor so much pain. And judging by this young doctor's reaction upon hearing of her condition, it had become evident to Hikaru himself that the two were of close company and the reason why the doctor had left so hastily just now, _was_ in fact to go to her aid. Hikaru averted eyes from the door and slammed his fist on the bed as he felt a surge of aggression accumulate within him. He was frustrated: he didn't exactly feel remorse that he had caused the kind doctor pain when she only tried to help him, buthe _did_ feel bothered in a way he could not describe. He eventually rolled to his side and swiftly pulled the blanket overtop his head. The girl from 5 beds away looked to his side and spoke:

"Ne, Hikaru-kun, which sensei seemed injured? What happened?" She asked still looking a little dazed.

"Nothing! Just be quiet and go to sleep Kanade." The annoyed teenanger snapped back from under his covers making the girl frown and then pout before looking away.

* * *

It was close to 6:00 in the evening and the day had already started to fade as regions of the sky that were no longer being shielded by the sun, turned into a dark dull blue colour while the descending sunset loomed over the sky causing rays of orange tinted light to pierce through the large window of the medium sized storage room with two stretchers set aside and tons of boxes and supplies stacked along walls of the enclosement of the room. The storage itself wasn't lit with light but just illuminated subtly as the sunset shot narrow rows of light through the thin blinds of the window. Shiraishi had found a tiny stool by the pink stretcher in the room on which she took refuge as she closed her eyes fanning the slash wound on her neck which was now exposed as she had peeled off the blood drenched gauze tape. After being struck accidentally on that area again, her neck had swelled up a little bit more and the wound itself had started to bleed incessantly because of the impact that had been imposed on it a second time before it even healed the first time around. Her forehead had been invaded by sweat and she increased her breathing rate to try and suppress the striking pain that ran up and down her neck area like electricity. About 10 minutes ago, she had entered the quiet storage room after cleaning the blood on her neck and applying pressure to the wound once more so as to decrease the bleeding because it had become clear to her that if the bleeding could not be suppressed soon, the area would become infected. She didn't feel there was any acute or impending respiratory distress on her body which was a positive sign to her meaning the wound was not deep enough to have caused enough damage for her to require emergent intubation due to any complications in the airway. The only reason she had to abnormalize her breathing rate was because it was too much to bear the pain that emerged from the blunt slash; it was after all, the delicate neck area which sustained a relatively large injury that cut through some blood vessels, even if miraculously avoiding to cut through major arteries. After having to endure this amount of physical stress caused by her injury, Shiraishi began to wish she had listened to Saejima when the injury was fresh, and had gotten it treated accurately with the application of medication to reduce swelling, because at least by now the stiffness would not have become so prevalent. As weak and in pain her current condition was at the moment, she was having difficulty moving her body and going to the first aid center to have it looked at properly. By now she had well learned that it was not going to get better by just re-applying new gauzes after cleaning the blood away. In fact, she had gained a little sense of the severity of her wound as she first laid eyes on it, but ignored receiving proper medical attention due to her duty as the staff leader and all the day's tasks she thought would become delayed had she spent a lot of time on her own injury. Though it seemed like a good idea at first, she squeezed her eyes together leaning back on the base of the stretcher when she realized how foolish she had been because even if she managed to complete the scheduled tasks during that time when she first received the injury, she wasn't really getting around the problem at all since the duties of right now were being delayed instead as she sat in the storage in pain unable to do anything. Shiraishi laughed at her own stupidity and then tried to reach for the uncapped water bottle resting on the floor right beside her stool when another current of pain overcame her causing her hand to jerk and knock over the bottle creating a puddle of water by her feet. Watching the only source of water she had spill right in front of her eyes was the last straw for Shiraishi because her throat from the inside had become too parched to endure anything anymore and so she let out a loud moan slamming her hand on top of the puddle as her eyes teared up. All she wanted was to prove herself as a capable staff leader and carry out her tasks with utmost accuracy and efficiency to create the best lifesaving, especially because the strongest of her colleagues would be leaving her soon so she wanted to establish a concrete foundation in the facility before that- yet why, why was it that her shortcomings _always_ came in the way of her progress?

When Shiraishi's face which was immersed in the shadows of the dark room slowly illuminated with an external source of light that came from the left side of the room, she quickly moved her line of sight to the entrance from where the light protruded from. Right in front of her was her strongest colleague from lifesaving standing in the doorway, his figure, overlapping with the bright light he led into the storage room when he opened the door.

"Shiraishi."

Upon recognizing the robust yet also mellow voice, Shiraishi widened her round eyes which were stained by tears. It was the unique yet also so very familiar voice she always found herself feeling relieved to hear whenever distressed. Without moving her neck too much she straightened her body on the stool while quickly wiping her cheeks as she looked up at him:

"Ah, Aizawa sensei! it's you.." She spoke as normally as she could smiling just slightly.

The young flight doctor stepped into the room upon hearing her voice and intensely gazed at her condition for a couple of seconds until finally frowning a little and letting out a sigh as he looked away in frustration.

"So, you _were_ here."

He spoke in his usual low gruff voice as he fixed his gaze right back at her. As Shiraishi just tried to study his words and how he could have known she was here, he walked up in front of her kneeling down on one knee and setting the red first aid bag he held, down on the side beside her stool. Shiraishi then quickly looked down at the bag he brought with him until looking back up at his face.

"Eh? This...but how did you know I needed-"

"It was because of the young patient from the rehabilitation center you helped out earlier." He said while quickly rummaging through the red bag to sort through its contents before finally taking out a sterile gauze and dipping it in saline solution.

"I had happened to be there too because of Kanade when I found out that a doctor from lifesaving helped the patient out but was but injured herself."

Shiraishi took a second to think until she realized which patient he had been talking about.

"Ah! Yes! Hikaru-kun"

Aizawa looked up at her as she spoke again in a rather enthusiastic tone, and then averted his eyes down to her neck where the exposed injury was. The slash wound was a long cut diagonally positioned on the left side of her throat; its extremities had become a purple tone while the whole left side and some parts of the right side of the neck as well, had become quite swollen. Shiraishi noticed his stare and hesitantly tried to explain herself:

"Um, right this….see it, it looks like it didn't get better throughout the day and now it's causing problems…it seems." She pressed her lips together and averted eyes as she realized how sloppy her explanation sounded.

Aizawa looked back up at her face with a very stern expression and spoke in a low voice:

"You received this injury about 8 hours ago by the means of a sharp medical utensil that pierced your skin enough to cause bleeding. If it had been accurately looked at during that time, 8 hours later, it wouldn't have turned out to be looking this way manifesting your whole neck and causing you this much pain. Even though I could tell right at that instant that the carotid artery and jugular vein were both spared, it didn't need to take a genius to realize the impact was still serious given the delicacy of the area that was struck. It was for that reason I trusted Saejima to properly medicate it right then and there when she led you out from the ER."

Shiraishi slowly met eyes with him again as she picked up on the seriousness in his voice, and found him still intensely looking at her face. He paused for a second and then let out a little snicker lifting one corner of his mouth in a half grin making a sarcastic expression before speaking again:

"But of course, why didn't I consider that that bad habit of yours would sure enough come in the way of utter logic and reason again preventing you from acting as how you should have instead of giving into a ridiculous sense of duty which would cost you your own well being."

Shiraishi kept staring into his challenging gaze not being able to say anything to him as she knew his words rang more true than ever right now and that this in fact was a very grave mistake she made indeed: neglecting an injury that held serious consequences. She finally looked away from his face until softly speaking again:

"Aizawa sensei is right...again. I messed up once again due to that bad habit and now I'm paying the price with this agony." Her voice cracked a little as she fought to keep composure. After a few seconds of silence she continued on:

"Since the start of this morning when I first came in, I had been relying on you- from completing my reports to stepping in putting your own self at risk to save me, you've been taking weight of it all; and even now too, coming to my aid when I'm struggling yet again." She said, finishing her sentence in a whisper as she kept looking to the side.

[insert Code•Blue Ost _Transparency_ here]

"Is _that_ your main issue right now?" He immediately answered back to her, voice still controlled and mellow but expression a little disappointed.

"If it's that then aren't _you_ always the one who's unnecessarily meddling in my affairs when I don't even need you to- but then in the end, when I least expect it, you make it so that _I'm_ also the one who's always alleviated from the problem. Isn't it you who's stepping in to aid me whenever you can?" He said while continuing to look at her. "It is isn't it? Then if I do my part too, in order to return your favours, it's no longer something that's quantifiable right? Because then it becomes something that works both ways no longer requiring just one person to keep tabs."

Shiraishi quietly listened to him, taking in the words she had long been needing to hear-words that made her realize her own worth she was slowly starting to forget amidst her frustrations. Aizawa's expression softened a little upon continuing to speak but his eyes remained stern while adamantly fixed onto hers:

"Also, if it's just because of that bad habit that you're constantly finding yourself in agony, then just tell me. I'll be there to reprimand you and fix that habit, even though in actuality, its root may not even be bad since it gives others salvation... but, anytime that it _does_ make things harder, you can come and tell me because your well being should come first." He finished in a low voice while nodding a little at her to give reassurance.

Shiraishi didn't even realize that as she had been looking straight at him intensely listening to his words, her eyes had welled up in tears even if her face remained placid. His demeanour stood out with confidence and expression was filled with reassurance that made Shiraishi even blindly believe in his words. The dull honey-like orange tint from the rays of the fading sun directly beamed on his whole face filtering through his thick and lustrous hair, which was neatly parted from the side, and turning it into a dirty gold colour. The beam of light radiated off his refined nose bridge and contoured his distinct cheekbones and angular jaw-the strength of his neck ever so prominent now with obvious twining cords of muscle that shaped it. His smooth and lightly tanned skin complemented his deep dark eyes reflecting caramel undertones from the sunset's illumination as Shiraishi continued to gaze at him trying to fight back her emotional distress. Even though her neck had still not stopped throbbing and the sweat slowly continued to drip down her face, she noticed a shift in her condition that had until a few minutes ago, been causing her a mental panic. But now as Aizawa was here by her side, she had unknowingly casted aside feelings of despair and was instead welcomed with a warmth which manifested her thoughts and eased the tension. As she continued to stare at him immersed in her thoughts, she noticed his expression change in a concerning and somewhat bewildered look making him blink a couple of times and look away when he realized tears started streaming down her cheeks. It took a while before Shiraishi could realize her own stance and then also getting flustered, she quickly ran her hand across her face to wipe the teardrops away feeling embarrassed for causing him discomfort. But it was a strange thing to Shiraishi herself as well because she didn't exactly feel upset at all or rather, this wasn't an emotional outburst because she felt depressed, it was just a surge of mixed emotions she felt as his words reached her heart and before she knew it, her body began to react as such.

"Uh, um haha, don't mind me, I'm just….it's just….I'm ok!"

She quickly jumped in to save herself from any further awkwardness as she broke into a forced smile waving her hands in the air. Then as he looked back in her direction believing in what she had said just now, his expression relaxed a little which caused Shiraishi to also calm down. She took a moment before emitting a genuine smile and speaking once more:

"But, thank you, for that. I needed to hear it." She pressed her lips together in a tight smile and showed a softened expression towards him on her pale face. Aizawa gazed at her too for a moment before firmly replying:

"Aa."

To his answer, she smiled wider and nodded her head in a movement that was uncalculated causing her to move her neck too swiftly thereby sending a pulse of pain from the wound; she squeaked as her hand immediately went up to support her neck.

"Oi, be careful." Aizawa said immediately tensing his posture and leaning a bit closer to her resting one hand on her shoulder as he studied her face.

"You've been pale since a while ago but now it seems to have gotten a bit worse." He said lowering his voice back down.

Shiraishi who was too pain stricken to comment, just slowly looked up at him as she squeezed her eyes together leaning back to the stretcher unable to bear the pain that resurfaced. Aizawa brought his hand to her face before gently resting it on her forehead. The sweat drops from her face emerged onto his skin as he kept his hand there for a few more seconds before looking back at her.

"You're breaking into a fever, as I thought. It's not something out of the ordinary given how much of your neck has already swollen."

Shiraishi just listened to him while breathing long and slow breaths.

"Your wound is consistently bleeding too which I'm guessing has been ever since a while ago. Move your hand so I can apply pressure."

Although her face lost a little color upon the mention of pressure being applied to the spot which was already intensely throbbing, Shiraishi well knew this was the most crucial step in taking care of such a penetrative injury, so she slowly nodded and moved her blood stained hand away exposing a red swollen neck with the prominent wound as fresh looking as ever. Using the sterilized gauze he had dipped in a saline solution earlier, Aizawa proceeded to slowly stick it onto the injured region of her neck and then used both his index and middle finger to cautiously start applying pressure. As soon as just a little heaviness was implemented on the spot, Shiraishi let out a little moan as she squeezed together her eyes tight and firmly clenched her first that rested on her lap. Aizawa noticed her pain as he looked down at her face now drenched in sweat but continued to focus on his task while making a concerning expression.

"It'll be a few minutes more." He finally spoke focusing in on where her injury was. Shiraishi while heavily breathing nodded a little:

"Alright, please do." She said under her breath.

After about 10 minutes more, Aizawa loosed the force he had been applying to the gauze as he noticed her bleeding stop. He still kept the gauze stuck in place on her neck to wait a little more before completely removing pressure and so just rested it on her neck without letting it move to not cause her any more pain. Shiraishi kept her head leaning to the side as her breathing steadied a little bit. As the stinging pain had finally faded a little bit, she could more properly feel the warm sensation of his fingertips resting gently on her cold neck. Somehow, the feeling from his touch began to also serve as a remedy for the injury as she enjoyed the subtle contact. After not too long, Aizawa moved a little away from her neck relaxing his posture a bit while still continuing to hold the gauze in place. He gazed at her face which rested limp against the stretcher to the side as she closed her eyes. By now it had gotten dark and only a small automatic dull bulb in the storage provided him with enough light to be able to tend to her wound. He gazed at her sweat drenched face which still was tinted with a pale colour and then looked down at the first aid bag putting his free arm into it to take out a water bottle.

"Shiraishi."

He brought it close to her as she slowly opened her eyes to his call looking up at him. Still a little bit dazed, she managed to show a surprised expression as she took another slow breath taking the bottle from him.

"Thank you so much! I really would have died without this had it been any longer." She managed to say with a fast paced tone but still in a voice hardly louder than a whisper. She quickly opened it up and gulped down the water as fast as she could.

"Drink it slower. Also, there's this too." He stuffed his hand in his pocket and took out a nicely folded light blue handkerchief, also pointing it close to her.

Shiraishi took a moment before shifting gazes to look up at him.

"Eh? Can I really take this?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Sure. It's just a cloth. Also, you need it don't you?" As he finished his sentence Shiraishi nodded as a thank you and then wrapped her fingers around it gently while also momentarily grazing his hand as she took it. Her touch to his finger was cold just like how her slender smooth neck had felt when he was applying pressure to the wound. He took a moment to think to himself as she began to dab the handkerchief all over her face. Then after a few seconds he spoke again:

"Shiraishi, your body temperature is still dropping. At this rate, it won't be enough with just applying antibiotic ointment on the wound when the bleeding stops. Medication needs to be administered quicker or this could get more serious. Your color has changed considerably too."

She stopped wiping her face with the handkerchief and stared at him for a few seconds before replying:

"You mean distributing the antibiotic through an IV line instead?"

Aizawa nodded as he watched her closely.

"You're off your shift for the evening now anyways right? Let's get a private room for you first and have adequate treatment done." Aizawa slowly took off the gauze and saw that even though the bleeding had stopped, her neck was still swollen.

"It looks like it's getting infected. I'll contact Tachibana sensei to let him know of your condition and then get Saejima to have the IV ready for you." After saying that, he packed all the contents back into the bag and stood up setting it on the stretcher temporarily. Then he kneeled back down and met eyes with Shiraishi:

"This is our best choice right now. That's why let's hurry up and heal this injury. You'll be fine after that."

"Uhm. you're right." She answered him back with the same level of seriousness as he had spoken to her with and then proceeded to collect her strength as she tried to slowly rise from the stool. Aizawa bent a little bit supporting her by grasping her elbows as she tried to firmly stand. The warmth she immediately felt as his large hand wrapped around her bare arm made her stop a little as she tried to stand straight-for the first time ever in her life, there was this feeling on an impulse she felt by his physical touch in that tiny instant, a feeling that consciously made her halt. Maybe it was because she herself was ice cold due to her injury, but the soft and warm touch his skin provided for her, gave her a type of satisfaction she had not felt before-it was the type of satisfaction a weak and illness struck person felt when the perfect medicine relieved them. As he proceeded to help her up, she slowly moved her head to look up at him with intense eyes.

"Aizawa sensei." She spoke as soft as she could.

Without reverting attention from helping her, he answered back in his usual tone:

"What is it? Are you feeling light headed?"

Shiraishi pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. Before speaking again, she had now managed to stand properly with his support as he let go of her arm now. She matched her line of sight with his and watched him as he looked back at her waiting on her to answer. Shiraishi then took a breath out and widely smiled at him:

"Aizawa sensei. I didn't get to say it before because of the small shock I endured at that time but, thank you so much for saving my life. I don't know what would have become of me if you didn't act so soon."

In a sincere expression she stared back at him with her happy dough eyes.

As if she had taken him in by surprise, she noticed Aizawa avert his eyes a few seconds later after hearing her say that. As she patiently waited for him to say something, he slowly looked towards her again before clearly speaking in that mellow voice of his:

"Of course I saved you. Now let's get going."

Shiraishi nodded and then smiled back before slowly making her way past the stretcher. At the same time, Aizawa grabbed the bag sitting on top of the stretcher, swung it around his shoulder, and walked out the dimly lit storage alongside Shiraishi matching her slow pace.

End of Ch. 2

* * *

Well, there it is, the second chapter to my series. Sorry if it was super long, I did actually plan to also show the "IV" treatment of Shiraishi after her and Aizawa left the storage ( lol one of their sacred hideouts xD) and he had called Tachibana updating him about her condition. Waiting there would have been the wrath of the ice queen Saejima for Shiraishi who didn't listen to her before lol but it just got waaayy too long so I figured to cut it here.

If you guys want me to create a "legend" section below the chapter for any medical terms then please let me know and I'll save you some frustration if you're not familiar with them already, though, I did try to kind of explain some terms in the dialogue of the characters but that can be done to some extent since they're doctors who already _do_ know what they're talking about lol It may actually be a good idea I think because I'm going to be presenting a lot of med cases in subsequent chapters too...so yeah!

I know where I am going with this and it's going to be jam packed with a lot of action/adventure so I hope the people who have chosen to follow the series can look forward to it!

Also, next chapter Hiyama and Fujikawa will be back YAYYYY haha I missed them T.T

Thank you for reading!


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